Batman's New Sidekick
by Reina Grayson
Summary: Cardinal has a daughter, but she dies in childbirth. The daughter reminds everyone so much of Cardinal, and when she finds out Bruce's secret, she wants in on the life. Can she help Terry in crimefighting. #1 in collaboration series
1. Prolouge

It had been twelve hours since Reiena had gone into labor and she was finally fully dilated. The doctors wheeled her out of the room and were followed by two men, one of them around mid fifties; the other was around Reiena's age. As the gurney went though the double doors to the delivery room, the two men stopped, and a nurse escorted them to the waiting room.

Meanwhile, Reiena was having trouble with her delivery. The baby had become a breached birth and the doctors were trying to turn the baby so its shoulders were not going to get stuck again.

"Okay, Reiena, you're almost there, just one more push." The midwife said as she looked over the blanket.

Just as that was said, Reiena began to flat line. The doctors started CPR, but after three tries, they brought in the heart paddles, and started using them.

"Charge, 200." The main doctor said.

"Charging 200 … clear." The nurse said.

"Nothing, Charge 250." The doctor stated after not hearing a heartbeat come from the machines.

"Charging 250 … clear." The nurse said as she turned back to the machine.

BBBBBB

The two men were sitting in the waiting room.

"Do you think she'll be alright, Bruce?" The younger man questioned as he watched the doors.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Dick, the best doctors are with her." Bruce said as he loosely held his cane under his hands.

"It's taking too long." Dick said with a worried tone.

BBBBBB

The doctors tried three more times to shock Reiena's heart back to a rhythm, but to no avail.

"Story, there's nothing more we can do. I'm calling it; time of death 17:09. Prepare for an emergency Caesarean section." The doctor said and the nurse brought the kit. Everyone worked hard to save the baby.

BBBBBB

Dick had begun to pace in the waiting room and was thinking about when he found out he was going to be an uncle.

_4 ½ months ago_

"_Dick, don't be mad, it just happened alright. Besides, I'm a grown woman; I don't have to explain myself." Reiena said as she was arguing with her brother._

_ "Do you at least know who the father is?" Dick asked._

_ "Of course I do, and you really think I'd cheat on my husband, I love Roy. Geez Dick, get off my back, you're not my father…" Reiena shouted then stopped when she realized what she said. "Oh my gosh, Dick, I'm sorry."_

_ "That was low, sis. You want to go there, fine, I'm out of here." Dick said with anger in his voice then left the manor._

BBBBBB

The doctors were making sure that the baby girl, as they found out, to make sure she was healthy.

"Appearance, 1; Pulse, 1; Grimace, 2; Activity, 2; Reflex, 2. APGAR is 8." The nurse said as she checked the child.

"She is ready for the nursery, I have to go and speak with Reiena's family." The head doctor said as the nurse placed the baby girl in the bassinette and wheeled her out of the room. The head doctor then followed the nurse, but went the opposite way to the maternity ward waiting room.

BBBBBB

Dick was still pacing, now thinking back to when he arrived at the hospital.

_Twelve hours ago_

_ Reiena was in the maternity ward, and Dick came walking into the room._

_ "Hey sis, Bruce called me, how are you doing?" Bick asked_

_ Great, this is just wonderful. Why are you here, last time we talked you walked out, angry." Reiena said with distress in her voice._

_ "I'll admit, things got out of hand, and stuff was said that shouldn't have been. Two things; one, I want to say I'm sorry for walking out the way I did and two, I couldn't miss the birth of my sister's child." Dick explained._

_ "Yea, I wanted to call you and apologize for what I said, I tried so many times, but I just couldn't make that call, I didn't know if you'd forgive me." Reiena said with a bit of calmness to her voice._

Just as Dick turned to head the other way in his pace, the double doors opened and the doctor came in.

"Mr. Wayne, Mr. Grayson; we need to talk, please come with me." The doctor said.

"You can tell us right here." Bruce said as sternly as he could.

"Very well, Mr. Wayne. There were complications with Reiena's delivery, we tried CPR, along with shocking her heart, but nothing worked. We couldn't bring her back, I'm sorry." The doctor informed them.

Dick had a look like his whole world had vanished. He felt like he'd lost his other half. Bruce was also surprised and wanted to cry, but he didn't show it (seeing how he hardly showed any emotion anymore).

"There is some good news, we were able to save the baby. She is healthy and waiting in the nursery." The doctor said, hoping that was some good news for the two.

"May we see her, doctor?" Bruce asked. The doctor nodded and motioned for them to follow him. The three of them left the waiting room.

BBBBBB

The doctor stopped at the door into the nursery.

"Just tell the nurse the baby's last name, and she will help you." The doctor stated and walked off.

Dick and Bruce walked in and saw the nurse with a baby in her arms.

"Excuse me, nurse, we are looking for the Grayson baby." Dick said

"Well, look here little one, your daddy and granddad are here to see you." The nurse said to the baby she was holding.

"No, I'm the baby's uncle, her mother was my twin sister." Dick said.

"Well, why don't you two get to know her." The nurse stated and handed the baby off to Dick, then walked away to tend to a baby that was crying.

Bruce and Dick stared at her and knew that the baby was special.

"We should give her a name that is close to Reiena's." Dick said as he looked from the baby to Bruce.

"Agreed." Bruce simply said.

"Gentlemen, I need a name for the baby's birth certificate." The nurse said as she came back to them.

"Ah…Reina." Bruce said first, and looked at Dick, getting a smile and nod from the acrobat.

"Thank you, Areina will be just fine, she can go home in a couple of days." The nurse said as she wrote the name down.

"But… actually I like Areina, I think the name suits her." Dick said. "One thing, where will 'home' be?"

"I may be old, but I can care for her, besides, you don't have any experience raising children, I raised three." Bruce said as he looked at Dick then to Areina.

"Okay, but you know I'm just a couple of cities away if you need me." Dick said as the nurse then took the baby and placed her back in her bassinette.

BBBBBB

Seven Years Later

Little Areina was playing with her favorite bouncy ball in the study when she tripped and landed hard against the old grandfather clock there. The little girl screamed as she fell backward, since her fall into the clock had enough force to push it backward. She tumbled down the stairs that were hidden by the clock and landed with a thud on a hard cold floor.

"Ouch, that hurt. Wait I've never seen this part of the house." Areina said as she started to look around, it was dark, but her eyes were adjusting and she could tell it was some kind of cave, but other than that she wasn't sure.

"Areina, where are you?" A voice called out, it was faint as it entered the cave but she recognized it.

"Bruce, I'm in some sort of cave. I can't find the stair I fell down." Areina answered as she looked around. All of a sudden she spotted the archway where the clock had been and a figure was standing in it. Then, lights turned on and illuminated the cave. The girl was awestruck to see where she was, there were computer, display cases and all sorts of stuff.

"What happened dear?" Bruce asked as it was revealed that he was the figure in the archway.

"I was playing with my ball and fell into the grandfather clock, then all of a sudden I fell down some stairs and ended up here. Where are we?" Areina answered, then asked as she was still taking in the whole place.

"I'll tell you when you're older." Bruce said as he held out a hand to his 'granddaughter'.

Just as they started back up the stairs, Areina's eyes fell on the display cases, and she saw six different suits, then she realized what Bruce was trying to hide.

"You were Batman." Areina almost shouted in surprise.

Bruce sighed _"Just like her mother with that mind."_ He thought to himself. "Yes, I **was **Batman, but that was a long time ago. I gave up that life a few years before you were born. I think you should also know that your mother and uncle were my sidekicks." Bruce said as he knew he couldn't hide the information any longer.

"Cool, wait, if Uncle Dick was Robin, then that means that mom could control fire, she was Cardinal. Super shway." Areina said as she took all this in.

"Yes, all three of us gave up the hero life before you were born, but I just couldn't part with this place, since it was my 'home' most of the time." Bruce explained.

"I want to know what she knew, please Bruce; train me." Areina said as she got a look on her face that Bruce had not seen in a long time, the patented Robin pout.

"I curse the day your uncle taught you that pout, but fine, we can start tomorrow, it's late now, and close to your bedtime." Bruce said as he didn't want to fight with her and she took his hand and they left the batcave together.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Three Months Later

Areina was coming along very well in her gymnastics training, along with grappling rope training. She was just coming toward the ground on another swing around the cave on her grappling rope, and landed perfectly.

"Very good, little one. You are a natural at this." Bruce said as he walked up to his 'granddaughter'.

"Thanks, but you know I get it from mom. So what's next?" Areina asked in excitement for her next training regimen.

"You've been working hard for the past three months; I'm going to wait a month before starting the next thing." Bruce explained as he turned away from Areina to leave out of the batcave.

"Aww, come on, Bruce, I'm ready now." Areina said as she used the 'Grayson pout' (Thank you Uncle Dick).

"Don't think that can work on me, your mom and uncle have already worn me down with that pout and after you found out about this and used that same pout, I vowed to never again fall for it." Bruce said as he never even turned around. Bruce ascended the stairs and left out, leaving Areina in the cave.

"Well, if you won't show me, I'll find someone who will." Areina said out loud to herself as she walked over to the display cases. She then opened the one that had her mother's first costume in it, and pulled it out. The young girl then proceeded to put on the outfit. "Look out, Blüdhaven; another Grayson is on her way."

With that, after she had finished fixing her mask right, she left out of the cave on a small motorcycle (Thanks Bruce).

BBBBBB

One Hour Later

Areina arrived in Blüdhaven and made sure her motorcycle was well hidden. She then searched her mother's belt for a grappling hook, and once she found it, she launched it. She knew from stories that her uncle always felt at home when flying around, thus she knew that even though he was older, he couldn't resist doing it.

The girl was now swinging around going from rooftop to rooftop, and she started to see why Dick loved it so much. Swinging around the buildings was much different than just going around the batcave. The wind was blowing her hair and brushing against her face, she felt like she was really living.

For the next ten minutes, she continued looking for her uncle, but little did she know he found her. Areina had just landed on a rooftop and was getting ready to launch her grappling hook again, when all of a sudden, a small pellet rolled right up to her feet. She instantly realized what it was. Just as the smoke started to come out, Areina jumped away, and was unaffected by the smoke.

Next, Areina heard a whooshing sound coming her way, and did a back hand spring to avoid it. As the young girl looked around after hearing whatever it was hit the ground, she recognized it. It looked almost like the symbol of her uncle's Nightwing suit that was in the display case.

"I believe it now; you were trained by the best." Areina said as she turned toward the shadows, and after she said that, a figure emerged from them.

"Where exactly did you get that outfit?" The figure asked, still keeping its face hidden.

"You know where, Grayson." Areina sarcastically answered, and with her answer, the figure fully moved out of the shadows.

"Areina!" The figure said in shock.

"Hey, Uncle Dick. How are things here in Blüdhaven?" Areina asked.

"I can't complain, but what are you doing here?" Dick questioned in surprise that his only niece was in his city, not to mention dressed in his late sister's vigilante outfit.

"Bruce won't train me for a month, but I don't need a break, I went three months straight training on the grappling hook and gymnastics, I think I can handle more." Areina explained as she removed the mask she was wearing to reveal her blue eyes.

"Wait, he's training you, he told you straight out that he was Batman?" Dick questioned in shock as he also removed his mask.

"I was playing in the study playing three months ago and bumped into the grandfather clock, I fell into the cave, and I found out. I wanted to know all the things mom knew about this life. He said no at first, but I gave him that pout you taught me two years ago. I tried it tonight to get him to train me some more, but it didn't work. I figured you could show me a few things." Areina answered.

"I thought he sealed that clock so it couldn't be opened at all. Oh well, so how did you get here?" Dick asked as he walked up to his seven year old niece and gave her a welcoming hug.

"Bruce got me a motorcycle for my birthday last month; he thought that getting me that would make me forget that last month was also the anniversary of mom dying." Areina said as she and Dick started to walk to the edge of the building.

The two then sat down with their legs hanging over the edge.

"I wouldn't put anything past him, every year after we went to live with him, he tried to make me and Reiena forget the anniversary of the day our parents died. It never really worked, but the pain was dulled. So, expect for that, what's been going on with you." Dick stated then questioned.

"Nothing much, I've been getting A's in school, and Bruce actually seems to have gotten better about me playing 'dangerously'. I guess tonight, I just had to get out of the house and cave. Besides school that's all I do." Areina answered.

The two talked forever about what's been happening with each other, and Dick even asked how Barbra was doing.

"From what I know, she's the commissioner of the police, apparently following in her father's footsteps. She's come over time and again, but I haven't seen her for a while." Areina said as she looked from the city's skyline to her uncle.

"I'm sure she's busy, she is the commissioner of Gotham's police after all." Dick said as he looked from the same skyline to his seven year old niece. When he looked at her, I could see so much of his sister in her, but he could also see a lot of his best friend in her. "I want to ask you something. Do you know who your father is?"

"Yea, it's Roy Harper, a.k.a. Speedy then when he got older he went solo and became Red Arrow. What Bruce doesn't know is that I've been into the bat computers secret files." Areina responded.

"Oh no, tell me you're not hacking." Dick stated.

"Maybe, but Bruce didn't teach me that, I learned it from someone at school." Areina said as a smile started to grace her little face.

"I think it's cool that I had a fire controlling heroine and an heroic archer as parents. Also, if you're going to say it, I already know that dad's dead. I saw something in his file, he was killed while saving Star City." Areina said as she figured that he was about to tell her.

"Well, I guess I should let Bruce know you're here." Dick said as he started to stand up.

BBBBBB

Back in Gotham, Bruce had become worried since Areina had not come out of the cave in over an hour. He went over to the grandfather clock and descended the stairs. There was no sign of Areina, but Bruce realized something was wrong when he noticed her motorcycle was gone, then he had a good idea where she was when he caught sight of the empty display case.

"She didn't." Bruce said to himself as he walked over to the computer. The billionaire typed on the computer, and found Cardinal's suit was in Blüdhaven.

Bruce was thinking to himself now that he should have never given her that motorcycle last month. He then activated the communication network and looked for Nightwing's frequency.

BBBBBB

Just as the two of them stood up, a low beep was heard by both of the Graysons.

"Dick, is Areina with you. The tracker in Reiena's old suit is saying it's there in Blüdhaven." Bruce's voice was heard by both of them as Dick had tapped his wrist, which had a mini computer in it.

"Yea, she's here, she just needed to get out of the house, and she hasn't seen me in two years. Areina's safe, you trained her well on the grappling hook." Dick said to his mini computer.

"Bring her back to Gotham. She's not in trouble, but it's late, and I don't want her on her motorcycle alone." Bruce's voice said. "And, Areina, you were very smart to take your mother's costume."

"I know, but then again, you are training me." Areina said so that Bruce could hear her.

"Alright, I'll see you in an hour or so." Bruce said, then the computer turned off.

"Okay, well let's get going, Stripes**(1)**." Dick said as he grabbed a new hook out of his wrist belts and Areina followed his gesture.

The two launched their hook and flew off into the Blüdhaven night sky.

BBBBBB

One hour later

Two motorcycles pulled into the cave and the two got off them. They were met by Bruce, and he had his usual look.

"Hello Bruce, long time no see." Dick said as he pulled his helmet off.

"Thank you for bringing her back, Dick. Areina, you sure you're alright?" Bruce said as he looked at both of them.

"I'm fine, Bruce. I didn't have any problems." Areina answered.

"I guess I could continue your training if your determined enough to try and get it from another source." Bruce said after he gave a sigh, figuring out that Areina wouldn't take no for an answer. "We shall begin with Martial Arts in the morning, and if Dick doesn't mind, I'd like his help."

"You don't have to ask me twice, I'd love to help." Dick said as he looked from Bruce to Areina. "I've been looking for someone to spar with."

* * *

><p><strong>1. This will be explained later<strong>


	3. Chapter 2

Ten Years Later

In the historic district of Gotham, one of the old buildings was currently occupied by a familiar group of Jokerz.

"Come on, DeeDees, you know we can't do that." The tallest Joker said.

"Oh, Ghoul, you are always so down when it comes to going after creds." One of the DeeDee twins said.

"You know, I have a way you can make all the credits you want, and you won't have to steal, all I need is your help with something." A mysterious voice said. This voice got all four Jokerz, one that never spoke.

"How did you get in here?" Ghoul asked as he held his 'trick-or-treat' bucket tight.

"Easy, you need to actually lock doors, anyway, how about my proposition." The voice stated.

"Depends, how many creds we talkin' about?" The other DeeDee twin questioned.

"As many as you want, with the condition you actually get the job done right." The voice answered.

"Sounds good, but how about we see you, so we know who we're working for." Ghoul stated.

With that statement, some of the 'shadows' in the building moved, showing that they were not actually shadows, once the darkness faded, they saw a teenage boy. "Just call me Dent."

BBBBBBBB

"The WaynePowers party will be over in about an hour and a half, maybe two hours, are you sure you'll be alright?" Bruce stated to the now 17-year-old Areina.

"I'll be alright; you and Terry go and try to enjoy yourselves. If anything happens, Ace can protect me." Areina stated as the family dog, Ace walked right up beside her.

"Okay, well be safe." Bruce said, and with that, he and Terry left out to attend the annual stockholders' party at the WaynePowers building.

Areina, with Ace right beside her the whole time, headed off toward her room to get started on her homework.

BBBBBBBB

Thirty Minutes Later

Four figures appeared outside Wayne Manor's front door. One of the female figure started picking the lock on the door, and the tall male figure worked on disabling the security system. Once the alarm was down, the female figure finished with the lock and the four entered the Manor.

They watched each other's backs as they looked around to find what they came for, Bruce himself.

"Where can he be? Let's head to the next room." The tall figure said as he looked toward the stairs. With that, all four headed up.

Areina, unaware of what was happening was working on her math homework.

"Algebra sucks; you're lucky you don't have to go to school, Ace." Areina said as she sighed then patted Ace on the head. Math was her best subject, but she couldn't stand having to do the same stuff over and over again. She did keep at it, that is until Ace perked up, and then started to growl really low.

Ace jumped off the bed, and then went to the door; Areina took the hint and got up, then walked to the door and opened it. Ace ran out and went toward the upstairs study. Areina quietly followed, and then she heard what Ace did, voices and furniture being moved. The teen waited against the wall close to the study door.

Suddenly, one of the females came out of the room, and looked right at Areina. The intruder went right at Areina with a round-house kick but Areina was able to block it right at her chest. Once the intruder's leg made contact with the teen's hands, Areina grabbed the leg and threw her attacker back about three feet. The other three intruders heard the crash of their friend and came out of the study.

One of the intruders looked like a hyena, since splicing was a new way of expressing one's self. Another looked like a skeleton, even had the face to match. The third that came out of the room looked just like the one that had attacked, a white face with bright red circles on her cheeks, and orange rag doll like hair, a white puffy hat, red tube top, along with white daisy duke shorts and knee high red boots.

The four of them, joined by the other twin, encircled Areina and got ready to attack. The hyena-boy went first, but was knocked away by Ace, and the two started fighting. After that, the skeleton looking guy went after Areina, and swung his bucket at her, which she blocked, but it was heavier than it looked, so her arm was bruised. Next, the twins went after her, and they were good, so in sync. Areina was able to block the attacks, but some got through.

The kicks and punches landed in the side and stomach. Areina was somewhat out of breath, but continued to fight. She was starting to get fatigued, and the skeleton looking intruder went after her once more with his bucket. Areina tried to block it, but her arms got caught by the twins and she was helpless. The bucket hit her right in the stomach and she fell limp.

Ace saw this happening, and left his fight with the hyena and went after the other three intruders that were hurting one of his owners. He first went after one of the twins, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from Areina. The attacker fought hard to get her arm away from the dog, but his grip was too strong. Ace kept pulling the girl away from Areina but was grabbed from behind and threw him hard into the nearby wall. Ace fell to the floor and was not getting up.

The intruders then picked up Areina, and pulled her hands behind her back. One of the twins then put handcuffs on her so she couldn't use her arms. The tall intruder then tied her ankles together so she couldn't run if she got away from them. Just as he finished, a fifth figure appeared.

"Very good, Ghoul; you as well Dee Dee, and impressive work, Woof; I have to admit that I chose right. Looks like we don't have Mr. Wayne, but I believe this is his granddaughter, she shall do nicely." The fifth person said, they then started writing on a piece of paper they had in their hand.

"Thanks, Dent; now how about our creds." Ghoul asked.

"Not until you finish, this was only part one of my plan. Let's get going, we have to prepare for tomorrow night." Dent remarked as he walked into the study and placed a piece of paper on the desk. Dent and his hired help then left, dragging Areina behind them.

BBBBBBBB

Thirty Minutes Later

Bruce's car pulled up to the house, but as Terry got out to go help Bruce, he got a funny feeling. As Bruce got out of the car, he also felt it, like something was wrong. While Bruce walked at his normal pace toward the house, Terry ran in to check the place out. Once inside, both Terry and Bruce knew for sure something was wrong. The upstairs study could be seen from the front door, and Terry went sprinting up the steps and went to the room.

Bruce continued to check out the downstairs, and then Terry came slowly down the stairs. When the elderly billionaire saw him, he was scared; Terry was carrying Ace in his arms.

"Areina, are you here?" Bruce hollered out as loud as he could.

"I think we have a problem, Bruce. Terry stated as he set Ace on the couch then handed Bruce a piece of paper.

_We have the granddaughter of Bruce Wayne._

_ If you want her back, Batman is to come to the_

_ docks close to the historic district tomorrow at_

_ midnight, or else the girl will die._

Bruce was mad, but he didn't show it except for his old Bat-glare and crinkling the paper. Terry was worried, he'd never seen Bruce this angry.

"Shouldn't we call the commissioner? She needs to know." Terry said as he looked at Bruce.

"I think it's best that we treat this as a run of the mill kidnapping, we don't mention about the kidnappers wanting you, only Barbara will know about that." Bruce said as he headed toward the downstairs study.

Terry had been right behind him, and the two then went down the hidden stairs after Bruce activated the grandfather clock. They reached the computer, and Bruce contacted Barbara through their old private connection.

"Barbara, it's Bruce, Areina's been kidnapped, can you come to the Manor so we can talk more about it?" Bruce said after Barbara's face appeared on the screen.

"I figured it was only a matter of time before this would happen to her. I'll be there as soon as possible." Barbara said as she removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. The computer screen then went blank.

One Hour Later

Barbara arrived at the manor and walked in, she was bet by Ace, who was growling. No matter how many times she had been around, Ace never really liked her.

"Easy, Ace; Hello Barbara." Bruce said as he started walking out of the downstairs study.

"So, when did it happen?" Barbara asked as she walked past Ace and went over to the living room couch.

"Anytime within an hour before I called you. Terry and I were out at a WaynePowers party and Areina was here alone. When we arrived home, we knew something was wrong. When we entered, Terry found Ace out on the floor and this note on the desk in the upstairs study." Bruce explained as he handed Barbara the note.

"I see your angry got to the paper. Well, this is interesting, why would they want Batman instead of money." Barbara said as she unwrinkled the paper and read the note.

"I was thinking, when this hit the news, the people are going to do like they did when Shriek did that thing with the sound in Gotham. Can you make everyone think that she's being held for money?" Bruce stated.

"I was thinking the same thing. When this hits the news, the ransom will be two million credits. Do you want the police to do any searching, you know, make it seem like the police are doing everything they can?" Barbara asked.

"Yes, let's make the kidnappers think that." Bruce answered.

"Alright, I'll get right on this, and Bruce, don't worry, if anyone can bring Areina back, it's Terry." Barbara said as she got up and left out of the manor.

"She really believes in me, doesn't she." Terry stated as he heard the last words Barbara said.

"She knows you are being trained by me, which means she knows you'll do everything you can get bring Areina back." Bruce replied.

* * *

><p>I'm sure some of this is OOC, but I like it the way I wrote it.<p> 


	4. Chapter 3

Wanted to have this up like 2 days ago, but I was using a crappy drive, and lost the entire chapter, so this was the rewrite.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

Two Hours Later

There was a dimly lit room, and a teenage girl lying on a cot. She started to stir, and instantly woke up. The teen looked around, but couldn't see anything since her eyes were not use to the dim light. She felt her arms were not going like they should and tried to move them so she could push herself up. The only thing is that when she started to pull her arms forward, they were stopped, and whatever was holding her wrists was a rough material, and very tight.

She pulled herself into a sitting position and swung her legs over the side of the cot. Her eyes were finally adjusting to the lighting and she was able to see what all was in the room. There was a sink and the cot she was on, nothing more, and the room itself was tiny. All of a sudden, she was brought out of her concentration by the sound of something going into the thick steel door, and after a couple of seconds the door opened.

"I'm glad to see you awake, Areina Grayson." The man that walked in stated.

"How do you know my name?" Areina asked.

"Everyone knows the adopted granddaughter of Bruce Wayne. Although I have to admit, it was him I wanted here, but you will serve well enough." The man said.

"You look familiar, have you been on TV or something?" Areina questioned, trying to figure out who her captor was.

"You are right, but my name shall stay a mystery. Enjoy your little sleepover." The man said as he turned to walk out of the room. Once out, the door was locked and Areina was left alone again.

BBBBBBBB

The Blüdhaven news was on and a raven haired man was sitting on the couch, trying to unwind after a hard day at the police station. His attention wasn't really on the news; he just needed to relax after getting the crap beat out of him by a perpetrator.

"In other news, trouble in Gotham City as billionaire Bruce Wayne's granddaughter, Areina Grayson, was kidnapped. The kidnappers have demanded two million credits in exchange for the teen." The news caster on TV said as she was giving the viewers a rundown of the day's events.

The man sat straight up on the couch, wide-eyed, and just stared at the screen. He then got off the couch and headed over to one of his walls and placed his hand on one part of the wall and it activated a hidden button. A portion of the wall opened up and revealed a bodysuit. He grabbed the suit and proceeded to put it on. Once ready, and with a mask over his blue eyes, he got on a motorcycle and pressed a button on the console, and a panel in the floor opened up. The motorcycle took off through the panel and was heading down the old drainage ditch the hidden tunnel led to.

One Hour Later

Terry was in the batcave in his suit, minus the cowl, analyzing the note; Barbara had returned it to them once her labs went over it. The note was in the computer's scanner.

"Computer, analyze and run all and any fingerprints through the computer, exclude Terry McGinnis, Bruce Wayne, and Barbara Gordon from the results." Terry instructed the computer.

"Analysis beginning." The computer stated

Terry was worried, he had only known Areina for a few months, but he felt like he'd known her for years. Also, seeing Bruce get that mad somewhat scared him. He had heard some stories about when Robin and Cardinal were captured in the civilian roles, but he never thought it would happen to Areina. She was home schooled, and everything to prevent these kinds of things, but everyone in Gotham knew Bruce had a granddaughter.

Just as Terry was about to turn his attention back to the computer, he heard a motor running somewhere in the cave, and it was coming from the batcave's exit. Terry quickly grabbed his cowl and pulled it on, and found a close place near the cave ceiling to hide. The motorcycle, as it was realized, arrived right beside the batmobile, and the rider got off. Terry waited for the right moment, as he didn't want to scratch the car, and then launched a bat-a-rang.

The rider heard it coming and jumped out of the way, then threw an object trying to hit Terry. The object barley missed, and Terry was so distracted that he didn't see the rider of the motorcycle come up right in front of him and punch. The Dark Knight was unable to block at such a close range, and took the hit. He had lost his hold on the rock, and fell to the floor. The intruder was about to attack again when footsteps could be heard.

"So, news has gotten to Blüdhaven already." The voice said.

"Why didn't you call me when it happened, Bruce?" The 'intruder' questioned.

"There hasn't been any time. Barbara and the police are working hard to figure it out, but we don't even know how it happened. You just need to calm down, Dick, and I see you've met Terry." Bruce said as he looked from Dick to Terry.

"So, this is the new Batman I've been hearing about. Nice to meet you Terry." Dick said as he offered his hand. "Sorry about the punch, years of training just kicked in."

"So, you seem to know Areina, how?" Terry questioned as he took Dick's hand and the two began to shake.

"She's my niece; my sister, Reiena's child. That's beside the point, right now we need to figure out what happened. The only thing is, why just two million as the ransom?" Dick explained then questioned as the thought entered his mind.

"It wasn't money that was demanded, that's just something Barbara told the news. The kidnappers want Batman in exchange for Areina. It's going down tomorrow night, but hopefully, Terry can save Areina and himself." Bruce said.

"I hope you're right Bruce, I just hope Stripes is okay." Dick said as he let out a worried sigh.

"Stripes?" Terry questioned.

"It's a nickname I gave Areina because of her hair, it just came out one day, and I kept calling her that." Dick explained.

"Match to fingerprints found." The computer announced.

The three walked over to the computer, and the computer showed a profile picture of the only match found after the exclusions.

"Carter Dent, his prints were in the system because he took a federal job, clerk for the D.A." Bruce said as he pulled up Dent's file.

"Any relation to Harvey?" Dick questioned.

"Maybe, but his birth certificate is inaccessible, he must have been born in a different city, apparently Dakota." Bruce answered.

"I've heard about Dakota, it was hit with the Big Bang about four decades ago. I even met Static once." Terry stated.

"He's a good guy, even helped me and Tim a couple of times." Bruce added. "There's no way to get into Dakota's files, they were locked after the Big Bang happened so no one outside of the city could find out which citizen's were Meta humans."

BBBBBBBB

Areina was sitting on the cot, trying to figure out how to get free, and just then, the moonlight hit a shard of glass and the glint off of it caught her eye. The teen figured she could use that piece of glass to cut the ropes holding her wrists. She stood up and walked over to where the glass was, and began to squat down so her hands could reach it. Once she was able to grab it, she turned her left hand and started sawing at the ropes.

The glass slipped a couple of times, but it didn't cut Areina too deep and she resumed freeing her wrists. It took a minute more and the rope was loose. Areina pulled at the rope again, and this time, it snapped, freeing her arms (finally). She then looked at her wrists and hands and noticed they were raw and slightly bleeding so she walked over to the sink to see if it was working.

Thankfully it was and she slowly ran the cold water over her cuts and wrists. Once her wounds were cleaned up, she took the shard of glass and cut up the cot to make some bandages. She wrapped the pieces of fabric around her wrists and used her teeth to tie the knots. She was feeling better, that is until she heard the key enter the door's lock.

Areina thought that this would be her chance to escape, so she hide on the side of the door that the hinges. The door opened, and one of the twins walked in, but was shocked when she saw that Areina was missing. She ran over to the cot, and saw the rope and that the cot was cut up. Unknown to the Joker, Areina quietly closed the door and walked right up behind the girl. The captured teen then put her hands together and hit one of her captors in the back of the head, and the Jokerz member fell unconscious.

"Have a good nap." Areina stated as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

BBBBBB

The rest of the Jokerz and the man that hired them were sitting around playing cards.

"So, Dent, how come you asked for Batman in exchange for the brat?" Ghoul curiously asked.

"I won't tell you everything, but my grandfather was a villain when the first Batman was around. Batman disgraced him, so I have the opportunity now to get my revenge." Dent stated.

"Good enough for me." Ghoul said as he placed a card on the discard pile.

"DeeDee, your sister is taking too long checking on Areina, why don't you go see why." Dent said as he looked at the girl.

"Right." DeeDee said, and with that, she went to leave the room.

Unknown to the girl, Areina was right at the door listening to them, but once DeeDee looked to the left, she saw the teen.

"Guys, she got loose!" DeeDee shouted back into the room as she went after Areina.

Ghoul and Woof rushed from the table and went after Areina. DeeDee was able to get one light punch in on Areina, which would have been harder if the teen hadn't started to jump backwards. Ghoul came in and tried to kick Areina in the stomach, but she caught his leg and pushed him back a bit.

Out of nowhere, Woof came in and bit Areina's outstretched arm and she screamed in pain. Once Woof let go, the Jokerz backed away, and all of a sudden, Areina was surrounded by a mysterious darkness. After about a minute, the darkness disappered, and Areina was unconscious.

"Looks like we have an escape artists here, tie her up again, and this time make sure it's something she can't get out of." Dent said as he walked up beside her.


	5. Chapter 4

Well, sorry for the postponement on this story, wanted to get a couple of others out of the way.

Before I go any further, I'd like to congratulate KKCopper on getting my contest at the end of Teen Hangout Trouble partly right. The question was, what show in the DC Universe had the term flirterer in it. The answer is Batman the Brave and the Bold. KK said that it was something to do with Batman and Catwoman, and she was right. While in yet another death trap, Green Arrow is asking Bats how they are going to get out of it, and Batman is flirting with Catwoman.

If you wish to see that scene, go to youtube and search batman and catwoman flirting.

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

One Hour Later

Areina awakened and realized she was back in the cell she had escaped from. The only difference was that the cot was removed, and when she tried to move her arms, she felt something cold on her wrists. The teen was able to move her fingers around enough so she could get a good idea of what was binding her this time, handcuffs.

"Oh great, and I'm sure there's nothing here I can use as a lock pick." Areina said out loud to herself. Just then, she heard the lock on the door turn again.

"You seem to be pretty resourceful my dear, but this time, I think you will be staying here." Dent said as he stepped into the room.

"Now I know where I've seen you, you're Carter Dent, a clerk to the D.A. of Gotham." Areina began as she struggled against the cuffs. "I also figured out who your grandfather was. His name was Harvey Dent; he was scarred in an accident and became the villain Two-Face."

"Well it doesn't matter, once Batman comes to save you, I'll get revenge for what he did to my grandfather." Dent retorted as he moved closer to his captive.

"Why this Batman, your grandfather was beaten by the original Batman; you have no reason to go after this one." Areina stated as she struggled again, this time, realizing the cuffs were rubbing the part of her wrists that had become raw.

Areina winced in pain, and Dent just smiled.

"Get some sleep, Areina; you'll need it for tomorrow night." Dent said as he walked out and closed the door. Areina just hung her head, knowing there was no way out; she waited for tomorrow to come.

BBBBBBBB

The Next Day

Terry had just gotten out of school and started walking home to get his bike, when he heard a familiar motor sound coming from behind him. When he looked around, he saw Dick pulling up.

"Need a ride?" Dick questioned as he tossed the young Dark Knight a helmet.

"Sure, but how did you … oh right." Terry started to question, then realized he was talking to Bruce's first protégé.

The ride to the manor was a quiet one, as both of them had a lot on their minds. Dick was worried about his niece, and Terry was trying to figure out how to save Areina and himself from this kidnapper.

They finally arrived at the manor and used the old Cliffside road that lead to the bat cave. Once the motorcycle stopped, Terry and Dick removed their helmets and got off. They headed over to the Bat computer, where Bruce was already going though several scenarios.

"Hey, any luck." Terry asked.

"If you think I had any, would you be here right now?" Bruce said as he gave Terry the harshest Bat-Glare ever.

"Right." Terry said as he started to rub the back of his head.

"Any chance at pinpointing which building at the docks it is?" Dick questioned as he walked up beside Terry.

"As far as I can narrow it down, it's near the historic district like in the note, but there's no way to tell which building has any activity." Bruce said as he sighed and back away from the computer. "I was able to get a hold of Static in Dakota, and he has an idea of who Dent's mother is, Gale Dent, but he wouldn't tell anymore than that."

"There has to be a way to find out who this guy is." Dick stated. "I'm still holding on to the idea that Carter is somehow related to Harvey."

"I've studied about Harvey Dent, he was a D.A here in Gotham back in your day, right." Terry said as he thought back on his government studies at school.

"Yes, but he was horribly scarred in an incident, and became the villain Two-Face. He was maniacal, leaving everything to chance, and using his two headed coin to decide what should happen." Dick explained to the teen.

"Now I remember, I saw something about Two-Face in the computer's files." Terry said as he thought back.

"Okay; now the question is, why would Carter want Batman instead of money?" Terry stated.

"I don't know, but you better suit up, and go on patrol before the deadline." Bruce said as he looked back at Terry.

"Right." Terry said and he walked off to get on his suit and cowl.

BBBBBBBB

Midnight That Night

Batman arrived at the docks, and as he did, noticed a light in one of the older buildings' windows, so he headed over to see what was going on. When he arrived, he stayed hidden but looked through the window. He could see a girl's figure standing by a support beam in the open area of the warehouse. The Dark Knight then looked around more in the window and saw no one else around, so he jumped up, and was able to land on the roof with no sound.

He then found a hole just big enough for him to slip through and quietly jumped in. The Dark Knight continued to watch his surroundings has he headed over toward the girl. Batman saw her hair and knew it was Areina.

"Miss Grayson, don't worry I'm here to save you." Batman said as he drew closer. When she looked up, he noticed she was gagged with a piece of fabric. He reached up and removed it, and she looked at him with fear in her eyes.

"It's a trap, they're lying in wait." Areina said as she never took her eyes off her friend/savior.

"Well, well, well, Batman; always having to play the hero, too bad this is your last time doing it." A voice said as the lights in the warehouse came on. Batman turned around and saw four familiar Jokerz.

"Well, looks like you guys have hit a new low." Batman said as he got ready to fight.

"Oh this was not their plan, they are just helping me. Too bad you'll never find out who I am." The voice said again. With that, the Jokerz attacked, and they didn't take long in getting a couple of punches, but Batman retaliated by turning on his camouflage mode. The Jokerz started looking around, but they didn't see anything, then all of a sudden, Ghoul was knocked to the floor. The twins didn't know what to do, so they just started looking around frantically, while Woof started sniffing around.

Areina was watching, and listening (training of a bat). She hoped that Terry wouldn't get hurt too badly, but was happy that his attackers couldn't see him. She continued to watch, but what she didn't see was that Woof was coming up behind the invisible hero.

"Batman, look out, behind you." Areina hollered to give her friend warning as to the danger behind him, and when Woof jumped, all he did was fall. The captured teen let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Batman got out of the way. What she didn't know was that the twins had figured out a way to track him down, and one went right after him just as he dodged Woof.

The other twin got ready in hopes that her sister would be successful in catching Batman. The first twin was successful, as she jumped; she latched onto something and seemed to be floating in mid air. The other then went and kicked right above her sister's arms, and Batman suddenly appeared. When Batman was kicked, the suit semi malfunctioned, and the camo function on the suit deactivated.

Areina was watching in horror, she had never seen Terry kicked that hard, and she was hoping that he would be okay. She started struggling to get free so she could help him, but it was no use. The twins kept at their attack, one holding the Dark Knight and the other began punching and kicking him all over and there was a lot of power behind those attacks. While she struggled, she felt her wrists starting to get hot, and not two minutes later, the cuffs holding her slide off her wrists.

"He thought he could hide, DeeDee." The twin holding the Dark Knight said.

"I'm thinking he can't anymore DeeDee." The one that was hitting him said, and with that, she kicked him again, this time right in the stomach. The twin holding him let go, and Batman fell to the floor and was not moving.

"Woof, I think it's time to show him we mean business." The mysterious voice said as a figure started to walk out of the shadows. The Hyena spliced Joker then went and started biting Batman and the Dark Knight was screaming in pain.

"Leave him alone, Dent. You know he's not the one that 'disgraced' your grandfather, not even the original did, Harvey brought it on himself." Areina shouted as she pretended to stay cuffed for a moment.

"From what I've heard, it was Batman, and like I said, it doesn't matter who's behind the mask, I want to end The Dark Knight once and for all." Dent said as he walked up to the girl.

"You've been corrupted by untrue stories, Carter. Batman was saving the city from Two-Face, Joker, and others like them." Areina said as Dent placed his hand under her chin and forced her eyes to meet his. Just then, she decided to make her move and gave him a punch to his stomach.

"Why you little brat, you'll pay for that, DeeDees, take care of the 'princess'." Dent said as he backed away and gave the twins room to go after Areina.

The twins started kicking at Areina from both sides, but she easily dodged the kicks, and even back flipped away from a couple. This aggravated the two and they started to fight out of anger, and this proved an advantage for the teen. When they both came toward her from opposite ends, she timed it right and ducked, making the two kick each other, one in the head, the other in the stomach.

The two fell down, unconscious, and Areina headed over to get Woof off of Batman, but she was stopped by a hand grabbing her shoulder. She turned around to see Dent about to punch her. The teen thought fast, and was able to knock his arm out of its trajectory and then she kneed him in the stomach.

He was stunned, so Areina took off and kicked Woof right in the head, thus making him release the Dark Knight. As the teen got on her knees to make sure Batman was alright, darkness filled the room. After a minute, the darkness vanished, and she and Batman were alone in the warehouse.

"Terry, are you okay?" Areina asked quietly, making sure no one heard her use his name.

"Yea, the suit took most of the damage except for my shoulder, but how did you get free?" Batman asked as he winced while Areina started helping him up.

"I don't know, it's weird, but I'll try and explain on the way home." Areina answered as the two of them started walking toward the exit.

* * *

><p>Saying now, I won't be updating this one for a while, going to work on a sequal to Finding Yourself in a different Dimension. I'm only updating this one because I promised KK I would after I finished Teen Hangout Trouble.<p> 


	6. Chapter 5

Hey everyone, sorry for my absence, but I was working on Finding Yourself in a Different Dimension 2, then kinda got started on a game on a game site I frequent. I've started posting that game, Mafia Game: Gotham Edition.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

The Batmobile pulled into the cave, and as soon as its engine cut off, Ace ran up to it. The lid opened up and as Bruce and Dick got close, they saw Areina helping Batman out. Once they were on the cave floor, Areina took the injured Dark Knight over to the medical table and sat him down.

"Wow, you look like you went ten rounds with Bane, and he won." Dick joked as Terry pulled off his cowl.

"Ha-ha, Woof can get pretty rough, and the DeeDees are too in sync." Terry said as he proceeded to pull off his top, and flinched once his arms were over his head.

Areina had left Terry to get the medical supplies, and when she returned, she saw how bad the injuries were and flinched. Bruce took the medical kit, and started patching up the young Batman.

"Stripes, I'm so happy you're okay." Dick said as he hugged Areina.

"Uncle Dick, how did mom feel when her powers first surfaced?" Areina asked with curiosity in her voice.

"What?" Dick excitedly said, as the question from his niece was unexpected.

"Well, while Terry was getting beat up by the Jokerz, I couldn't do anything except watch, but as I struggled against the handcuffs, my wrists started to feel really hot, and the handcuffs melted enough for me to get free." Areina explained.

"This is crazy, but I guess it could happen." Dick said as he looked at Bruce, who was finishing up with Terry.

"What?" Terry asked as he was not getting the deal.

"Areina, let me get a blood sample and test something." Bruce said as he closed up the medical kit after pulling out a sterile syringe.

Areina just nodded as she pulled up her shirt sleeve. Bruce then cleaned the area, and inserted the syringe into the teen's arm, and the tube at the end quickly filled up with the well-known crimson liquid. Once the needle was removed from her arm, Areina bent her arm up to keep her body from losing anymore blood. The retired Dark Knight then went over to the Batcomputer, and then got a good amount of the drawn blood and placed it in a spot on the console that was designed for liquid analysis.

As the computer ran the blood sample through its paces, Bruce began typing on the computer. Dick, Terry and Areina came walking up to the computer just as it was displaying Areina's DNA code. After another minute of typing, two similar profiles appeared on the screen side by side.

"Just as I thought." Bruce cryptically said.

"What's going on?" Terry asked, with a bit of pain in his voice.

"If I know Bruce, and my memory serves me right, he kept a copy of DNA of all those that helped him, which means that something from Reiena's DNA matches something in Areina's." Dick said, falling back on his keen detective skills.

"Right as usual, Dick. According to this, Areina has inherited her mother's fire ability." Bruce said as he turned to face his 'granddaughter'.

Areina had a bewildered look on her face, but it then turned into a smile. Her uncle walked up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It will take some time, but I'm sure you'll gain control over your powers." Dick said, and with that statement, Areina looked him right in the eyes.

"Okay, since Areina asked it, I'm curious, how did her mother's powers first surface?" Terry asked as he was pulling his white shirt on to cover the bandaging.

"Who should tell it?" Bruce asked.

"Why don't you, I still get angry when I talk about 'him'." Dick stated, a bit of anger already in his voice.

"Very well. It was a couple of days after I took Dick and Reiena in after their parents died. John and Mary, your grandparents, were murdered by a mobster named Tony Zucco. He only did it to try and get protection money out of Haley's Circus, and thought an 'accident' would convince Haley to pay up. Two days later, they overheard me and the commissioner talking and found out where Zucco was, and that he might leave town. Once they found him, and tried to call 911, they were caught." Bruce explained. Areina looked from Bruce to her uncle, who was trying his hardest not to punch a hole in the thick cave wall.

"Okay, I'm with you so far, but Uncle Dick, don't go beating up the walls, I can see it in your body language." Areina said, hoping her voice would calm the enraged ex-hero down.

"Zucco had made a bomb and had the twins tied up, he was about to leave when I arrived and save them, well, was about to when the bomb blew. I thought for sure I'd been a goner, as I would die protecting them, but Reiena stepped out from my protection, and was able to control the fire that came out of the bomb, and well the explosion all together." Bruce finished explaining.

"Wow, did Zucco ever get caught?" Areina asked, as she didn't know this story.

"Yes, one year after that night, in fact, it was our first night on patrol." Dick stated as he thought about it.

"Whatever he got was too good for him." Areina said.

"True, Stripes, but we had to let the law handle it." Dick said, looking his niece right in her eyes, and he could see some sadness behind them.

"Yea, I know, still. Anyway, I think I should practice to get the hang of this." Areina said as the sadness went away and was replaced with determination.

"You can train to get the hang of it, but don't think I'm letting you go on patrol with Terry, he gets into enough trouble out there." Bruce stated.

Areina wanted to argue with Bruce, but after what happened to her last night, she knew he was right. She let out a tired sigh, then a yawn. Bruce and Dick heard this first, then Terry did. Dick walked up to his niece and left with her into the manor. Bruce had the slightest hint of a smile on his face, and Terry walked right up beside him.

"You really care about her don't you?" Terry questioned.

"She's just like her mother, and seeing her and Dick together just takes me back to when Reiena and Dick were her age." Bruce said, and with that, he left out of the cave. Terry didn't say anything, but saw what was going on. The new Dark Knight then left out, ready to head home for some well-deserved rest.

BBBBBBBBBBBB

Dent and the Jokerz had returned to their original meeting place, and the leader of this group, for now, was very mad.

"I can't believe it, you had him in your hands, and then you let yourselves get beat up by that rich brat. What I want to know is how in the world she got free." Dent said with anger in his voice.

"So what, if we hadn't been tired from fighting Batman, then we would have taken her just like we did at her home." Ghoul stated.

"It doesn't matter, from the look of these cuffs, they were melted, but you checked her for anything that could help her escape. So again, I want to know how she got free." Dent said, even angrier than before.

"We don't know." The DeeDee twins said at the same time.

"Well, we're going to go after Batman again, but let's let him think that he's safe for a while." Dent stated, and then started to walk off.

"What, why wait. Didn't you see that Woof took a big bite out of him, he's injured, now would be the right time to do it." Ghoul said, knowing he was right.

"With that kind of injury, he won't be healing completely anytime soon. We will wait two months, by then, my invention will be complete." Dent said as he stopped walking, but didn't look at his lackeys.

BBBBBBBBBBBB

The next day

Areina woke up, and felt good that she was back in her own bed, but she couldn't help but think about how badly Terry was beat up. She got out of bed, and headed downstairs. Before she even reached the bottom of the stairs, she was greeted by Ace.

"Don't worry boy, I won't get captured again anytime soon." Areina said, petting Ace, and she knew that would reassure him.

The two of them then headed toward the kitchen, she was met with Bruce and Dick sitting there talking. Ace immediately ran up to Bruce and nuzzled his hand. When Bruce had pet him, he moved over to Dick.

"Morning, Stripes." Dick said as he saw her out of the corner of his eye.

"Uncle Dick, you stayed over." Areina stated with happiness in her voice.

"After what you went through, I wanted to make sure you would be okay this morning. I've been through that situation before. I was just about to head out, but figured you'd be up sooner or later." Dick said as he gave his niece a hug.

"I just hope that Terry is okay, he took way more than I did. But I just want to kick Carter Dent's hide from here to Metropolis and back." Areina said as she was released from her uncle's embrace.

"Did you learn anything about him?" Bruce asked, which was not unnatural for him to ask.

"Yea, Two-Face was his grandfather. He'd heard that Batman disgraced Two-Face, and now that he was ready, he wanted to get revenge." Areina stated.

"He told you this himself." Dick asked, remembering all the times he had been face to face with villain back in the day.

"Well, I was able to get free about two hours after I came to in the warehouse, and I was sneaking around trying to find a way out, and I overheard him telling the Jokerz a less detailed version of the story." Areina said as she thought back to the night before last.

"So we were right, Carter is related to Harvey. Was there anything else weird." Dick asked, wanted to help get the information they needed.

"Well, there is one thing, before Dent left, he emitted a strange darkness that engulfed me and Terry. By the time it disepated, Dent and the Jokerz were gone." Areina answered, thinking hard about it.

"We need to get ahold of Static, let's head to the cave." Bruce said as he grabbed his cane and stood up.

They three of them, and Ace headed to the cave, and Bruce started typing on the computer's keyboard, and sent a link signal to Static in Dakota.

"Hey Bats, what's up, long time no hear." A man in his 50's said as he appeared on screen.

"Where there ever any bang babies that could create a darkness out of nowhere." Bruce questioned.

"There was one, Gale, but her powers have been inert since they spread the cure all over the city." Static said as he thought. "Hey, I remember Dick, but who's the girl."

"This is Areina, she's Reiena's daughter, but Reiena died in childbirth." Bruce stated, answering his fellow superhero.

"Nice to meet you Areina, I'm sure Bruce has told you who I am." Static said as he turned his attention to the girl.

"Yes, Virgil, I know, so how's Gear doing." Areina stated.

"He's been hard at work as usual with his inventions." Static said, knowing he was going to like this girl's attitude.

"Anyway, so did Gale ever have any kids." Dick asked, curious about that.

"She did get married some time ago, to someone with the last name Dent. They had one kid, Carter, but I think he's living in Gotham now. Why the questions?" Static informed them, but then was curious as to why Bruce would be contacting him about someone originally from Dakota.

"Areina was kidnapped a couple of nights ago, and she told us that it was a guy named Carter Dent, thank you static, we'll contact you if we need anything else." Bruce said.

"Alright, and glad to see you're okay Areina, Static out." The hero said, and with that the screen went dark.

"Time for you to start training with your powers, Areina." Bruce said.

"Right, I'll get right now it." Areina said, and with that, she hearded off to an open part of the cave.

* * *

><p>So, now's alot of suspisions have been confirmed, Carter is indeed related to Old Harvey, and THe Batfamily has discovered the identity of Carter's mother. For those of you that never watched Static Shock, Gale was part of a gang, but then she realized what she was doing, and helped Static and Gear stop one of their Rouges. Her Bang Baby name was Nightingale.<p> 


	7. Chapter 6

okay, I'm about caught up with what I had originally written, so just bare with me.

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

Two Months Later

Terry had come into the cave after school, and was hit by an intense heat. The further into the cave he went, the more the heat intensified. He followed the rising temperatures and found the source.

"Areina, you're at it again I see." Terry said, seeing Areina standing in her usual spot working with moving the fire she could now create.

"Yea, now I can make image from the fire, watch." Areina answered, and with that, she starting moving the fire so elegantly that it seemed to dance, but what surprised Terry was when she was done.

Areina had created a fiery version of the symbol on his suit, and even with her not moving the flames, the symbol seemed to dance around the edge.

"That's wonderful, Areina, but maybe you could hold off on it for a couple of hours." Terry stated as he started to sweat a bit.

"Yea, I've been at it for about two hours." Areina said as she looked at the large clock on the Batcomputer.

The two of them headed over to the computer to talk to Bruce, when the alert sounded. They ran the rest of the way as Bruce started typing to find the area of the disturbance. It didn't take long to learn that there were buildings being destroyed near Crime Alley in the historic district.

"Get going." Bruce said, not even turning away from the computer. When Areina looked from the computer to Terry, who was already in the Batsuit minus the cowl.

"Already on it." Terry stated, and with that he pulled on his cowl and headed to the Batmobile.

Areina had run after him, and when he was in the pilot's seat, Batman looked right at Areina.

"Be careful out there, Terry. You're still not fully healed after that bite you took from Woof." Areina stated with concern in her voice.

"Don't worry, Stripes, I'll be careful." Batman responded.

"Hey, Uncle Dick is the only one that calls me that. I'll let it slide this time." **(1)** Areina said, and with that, she backed away and the Batmobile left out to investigate the destruction.

"I'm surprised you didn't send a fireball his way." Bruce said, not taking his attention away from the computer.

"So I get mad about that, but he is still healing up, don't need to add third-degree burns to it." Areina said with a bit of a laugh in her voice.

BBBBBBBBBBBB

Historic District, Near Crime Alley

Batman left the Batmobile on hover, and headed out through the hole in the bottom. He glided down to a nearby rooftop. Once he found a good spot, he surveyed the area, and that's when he saw the dust rising about a block away. The Dark Knight then took off and headed for the buildings the dust was surrounding. When he arrived, he landed at street level, Batman saw those responsible for the destruction; a familiar group of Jokerz.

"Are you going to clean this up, or do I have to call your parents." Batman said as he stood straight up.

"Looks like you'll be calling someone." Ghoul stated as he went after the Dark Knight and tried to kick him in the chest.

Batman was able to block the kick, and sent Ghoul flying backward with a punch. Woof was next to attack, and he went right for the spot he bit months ago, but Batman was able to keep the hyena at bay and activated his boot rockets, and took off flying with the Jokerz member and slammed him into a nearby wall.

Just as Batman was getting his balance back, a familiar darkness started to surround him. He tried every setting on his cowl, but he couldn't see anything. With the darkness around him, he didn't see one of the DeeDees come up behind him and she then gave him a good kick in his injured shoulder. The pain was so much that he didn't even cry out, just a grunt and he was unconscious before he hit the concrete.

"So, DeeDee, how did my little serum work?" A familiar voice asked as the darkness around Gotham's protector was disappearing.

"It worked great, Dent." The twin said as she turned to look hat her leader, and when she opened her eyes, it looked like she had snake eyes.

"Good, get him and let's go." Dent said, and with that, Woof, who had recovered from the slam into the wall, went over and started dragging the Dark Knight behind him. The group of villains then left out with Batman as their captive.

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One Hour Later, Batcave

Areina and Bruce were both worried, well as worried as Bruce could be. Terry had not been heard from since that darkness overtook him. Usually, Terry would have checked in, even if he had been captured, but over the last hour, they were getting concerned.

"I'm going to head out to Crime Alley with Ace, see if we can find any clues." Areina finally said as she couldn't wait any longer and started walking toward the stairs to the manor.

"You really think that's a good idea?" Bruce questioned as he turned from the computer.

"Please, if I can hold my own against some low level Jokerz, I can fight anyone, and besides, I would have Ace with me." Areina said as she stopped. "Think about this though, wouldn't Uncle Dick have come after you if this happened?"

"You have a point. Be careful, and take this." Bruce said, seeing more of her mother in everyday. He then handed her comm. link, and she and the family dog headed out to the manor to get to Crime Alley.

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Thirty Minutes Later

Areina arrived in her car, and she and Ace exited. The German Shepard/Boxer immediately went for Crime Alley, and began sniffing around. Areina was close behind the 'bat-hound' and was looking for clues. When she got to a spot, she could smell burnt gas, and when she checked the spot, sure enough there were scorch marks.

"He used his rocket boots." Areina said to herself, and then she was able to figure out the direction he flew in, and found the indent in the wall.

Upon further inspection, she found grey and black fur. Just as she pulled the fur loose, Ace started growling. When the teenager heard the growl, she recognized it from when the Jokerz took her a couple of days before.

"Bruce, This was defiantly done by the Jokerz that took me, but Terry's not here, they must have him." Areina said as she activated her comm. link. Bruce's voice then came back.

"I've got a lock on something with the suit, come back, and we'll see what develops." Bruce said.

"Right. Ace, come on boy. We'll get Terry back." Areina said, and Ace was by her side with his ears back. The teen and her dog then left out to head home.

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Other Side of Town

Inside an old Joke store that closed down a year ago, The Jokerz were ready to carry out whatever plans their current leader had for the Dark Knight. The main room of the hideout was shrouded in darkness; then, all of a sudden, the main lights came on. There, in the exact middle of the room, was what looked like a surgeon's table, and strapped to it, was Batman.

The Dark Knight was still unconscious, as the Jokerz and Dent drew closer. Also in the room, pointed at Batman, was what looked like a laser of some kind. The maniacal villain then walked over to the machine, and moved a few switches. The machine came to life, and it was confirmed as a laser, but it was more of a shock inducer. When the electricity hit Batman, his back arched, and he was quickly awake, and the electricity then ended.

"I hope you enjoyed your sleep, Batman, since you won't be getting much." Dent said, and with that, Batman then looked at him while he was still recovering from the shock.

"You know evil never wins." Batman weakly said.

"Ah, but this time it will, you see, the original Batman had his little sidekicks to save him, but who will save you. See, I've been planning for ages what I would do to you if I even had you captive, and just after that little Grayson brat got free, it came to me. There is nothing like a good death by electrocution." Dent stated as he walked over to the Dark Knight from the machine. "This machine is set to shock you every thirty minutes until you finally die."

"Didn't you know that Batman isn't just one person, it's a legacy?" Batman said, but Dent was unphased by this.

"Even if that is so, I'll just kill that Batman too." Dent said, and with that, he and the Jokerz left out.

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Batcave, 25 minutes later

Areina and Ace entered the cave by the stairs, and headed over to the computer. Ace was whimpering, and Areina had a look of worry on her face.

"I called the Batmobile back, and checked the video that was recorded by it. Somehow, one of the DeeDees was able to see enough inside that darkness and must have knocked him out, because by the time the darkness disappeared, he was already unconscious." Bruce said as he told his granddaughter what he had seen.

"Man, Dent really is set on Batman isn't he?" Areina said and with that, the computer's screen came to life with the Batsuit's vid link.

The scene was pretty weird, a laser aimed right at the suit's wearer, and it looked like he was schakled to a metal table. Just as the picture moved to show more of the place, the laser began to power up. While watching this, the laser then fired, and a scream was heard through the comm. link.

"Bruce, I think it's time, and don't give me any bluff, I know you made me a suit." Areina said as she couldn't take the scream and turned away, her hands were now clenched into fists.

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><p>(1) I have a name that I only allow my mother to call me, and so I did the same with Areina.<p> 


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jokerz Hideout

What Batman didn't know was there he was being watched by a camera that was feeding the video to another room. Dent was occupying the video room with a grin on his face. In the room with Dent was a heart monitor, and it was wirelessly keeping an eye on the Dark Knight's pulse rate. Hearing Batman's heart rate going as a fast as a cheetah's, Dent was still just completely grinning, and his grin could have rivaled The Joker's.

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Bruce was still at the computer, but Areina had vanished for a bit. When she returned, she was in a black full body suit that had a maroon silhouette of a bird on it, along with maroon gloves and boots. She was finishing placing a silver mask over her eyes, and her hair was falling as it usually did.

"Are you absolutely positive you want to do this, Areina?" Bruce asked once more as he didn't turn his attention from the screen (talk about a multitasker).

"Yes, I may have only known Terry a couple of years, but 2 months ago, he risked his life to make sure I was safe. You could try to stop me, but I doubt you could." Areina said, and with that last comment, Bruce turned away from the computer.

"I see more of your mother in you every day. Remember to keep your comm. link with you, and stay in touch." Bruce said, and Ace started running up beside Areina.

"Sorry boy, but I have to go alone, Terry's in trouble, and I wouldn't be able to focus on saving him if I have to think about you too." Areina said as she bent down and hugged the family dog.

"What about a name." Bruce said as Areina released Ace from the hug and started toward the Batmobile exit.

"Red Bird." The teen said, and with that, she heated the air around her, and was able to fly out of the cave.

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30 minutes later

Batman had been shocked twice, and he tried everything to figure a way out, but nothing was coming to him. Just then, he heard the laser power up again, but this time he wasn't taken by surprise when the laser fired. The Dark Knight still screamed out in pain, and the laser stayed on a bit longer this time.

In the video room, Dent thought that he should go and talk to Batman before he died. The villain then left out, and walked into the adjoining room.

"Enjoying yourself, Dark Knight." Dent said as he walked up into Batman's view.

"I'm telling you… killing me won't remove what happened." Batman said, having to work to breath regularly.

"Oh but it will, I'll finally have avenged my grandfather, and then I'll take over this retched city for shunning him all those years ago. My father, Taylor, never had the courage or the mind to do what I'm doing, and now, I do, and with my powers, I'll destroy Gotham." Dent stated, then turned and went to leave for a while.

Batman was still breathing heavily, and to be honest, he was starting to think that he wouldn't be getting out of this one, so he just waited.

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20 minutes later

Red Bird arrived close to where the suits tracker was, but with the electricity hitting the suit so much, the tracker was off on its coordinates. The young heroine was able to land on a rooftop and take in her surroundings. She then thought about one other trick she was trying to perfect. She held out her hands and fire surrounded them, then the Red Bird started moving around, and suddenly, she got a lock on something.

"Bruce, I think I may have an idea of where Batman is. I tried looking for his heat signature, since it is different with each being, and I got a faint trail." Red Bird said as she activated her comm. Link.

"Alright, just be careful." Bruce voice came back.

With that, Red Bird started flying again, and followed the feeling she got.

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10 minutes later

The machine was warming up again, and Batman was just hoping this shock wouldn't be the one that finished him. The machine was ready to fire and started to, when suddenly, the machine exploded and was on fire. The fire started to intensify, and that's when Dent came out of the adjoining room, angry. The flame started dancing like it had a mind of its own, then suddenly the flames went straight up and burned a hole in the wooden ceiling. Once the flames died down, a figure started floating down into the room.

"You'll pay for this, Dent, I'll see to that." The figure said as it landed on the opposite side of the table that Batman was strapped to. When the Dark Knight managed to see the form and hair of the figure, he knew exactly who it was.

"You destroyed my machine, but now you'll be destroyed." Dent said and with that, he snapped his fingers, and instantly the group of Jokerz came out of hiding.

They approached the new hero, and suddenly, they were thrown back when the hero created a fire dome, and sent it out toward the gangsters, and when they hit the nearby walls, they were knocked out. The hero started toward the table to free Batman, when suddenly, there was a wall of darkness that blocked the way to the table.

"So, the little fire bug wants to fight for her friend, cute." Dent said, and when the female hero turned around, she saw Dent's face, she was shocked.

"Dent, your eyes." The heroine stated.

"I'm no longer Carter Dent, I am now Drow." Dent said, as he started walking toward the girl. "Not even a brat like you can stop me from taking my revenge on Batman."

With that said, Dent started to punch at her, but the teen was able to block the attack, then jump backward.  
>"You think you can take me, fine, I'd love to see you try. Also, for future reference, it's Red Bird." The teen said and with that, she went to leg swipe the villain, but he was quick and jumped up, when he landed, he got a punch kick combo in on Red Bird.<p>

Red Bird quickly recovered, and got in a kick right to Drow's stomach. This angered him, and he went with an uppercut, but the heroine dodged it. Just as he saw his uppercut had not made contact, he went with a kick that was aimed at Red Bird's ribs. Red Bird saw this coming and was able to put up a fire shield to protect herself, and when Drow's leg made contact with it, the villain let out a small scream.

"Fine, you want to use powers, then I'll destroy you in something not even your fire power can leave, total darkness." Drow said, and with that, his hands started to emit the darkness that was creeping slowly toward her, then started to pick up some momentum and was beginning to surround the hero.

Red Bird knew that she wouldn't be able to fight the strength of the darkness, so she did the only thing she could think of; she created a fireball, and sent it at a good speed toward the shackles holding Batman captive. Just as the darkness completely overtook her, the fireball hit, and melted the metal instantly. With his hand free, Batman got an unfolded explosive Bat-a-rang, and set it to a low charge, then hit the other shackle and he was free.

Drow was laughing as he kept the darkness around Red Bird, but suddenly, a punch came, and knocked him right in the face.

"You were lucky this time, Batman, but next time we meet, I will kill you." Drow said, and with that, he made darkness surround himself, and instantly, he and the Jokerz were gone.

Batman was very weak, but he made his way over to Red Bird, who had lost consciousness. He picked up her upper body, and looked right at her silver mask.

"Wayne, you there?" Batman said, hoping the shocked didn't ruin the comm. link.

"Yes, you seem to be okay. Where's Areina?" Bruce's voice came back.

"She's here, but she was in that darkness of Dent's for so long, she's unconscious, but she was able to free me before the darkness surrounded her.

"I've sent the Batmobile, you both get back here." Bruce said.

"Right." Batman responded, and with that, he then picked up Red Bird, and headed outside of the building. Just as Bruce said, the Batmobile was waiting, and the Dark Knight carefully got in after making sure Red Bird was well situated for the ride home. Once he got in the pilot's seat, the Batmobile headed for the Cave.

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In a secondary hideout, Dent was fuming mad. The Jokerz were just standing there, not saying or doing anything, when suddenly, Dent turned to the gang.

"You four are the worst. I gave you a simple task, and you let that fire bug just push you back like you were paper." Dent angrily said.

"We didn't know she could do that; in fact, we've never seen her before." Ghoul stated, hoping this would be good enough to calm their boss down.

"Still, you are supposed to be one of the top Jokerz gangs in the city, and you get thrown around like dolls by a teenage girl hero." Dent said, now seething with anger. "I'll finish Batman and the fire bug off myself, I don't need you."

With that, Dent released his darkness, and it filled the entire room. The villain let the darkness stay, and after about five minutes it started to vanish, and the Jokerz were all four laying on the ground unconscious. Dent then left out of the building.

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><p>What will Dent (Drow) do next, you'll have to wait for a bit, because I got an idea for a new story I'm going to work on.<p> 


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It didn't take long before the Batmobile arrived in the cave, and Batman climbed out when the canopy opened, with Red Bird in his arms. She had not regained consciousness, and was still out when Batman placed the 17 year old girl on the medical table, and she started to stir. Bruce was walking up to the table just as the young heroine started to wake up.

"Okay, I'll never get use to that." Red Bird said as she opened her eyes, her mask still on.

"You never really do." Bruce said as he carefully removed her mask, revealing her jade green eyes.

"What did you think you were doing, Areina." Batman said as he removed his cowl.

"Look, Terry; we were getting your vital readings from the suit, and I'd say you had about two more shocks before you were slagged." Areina angrily said to the Dark Knight.

"Calm down, Areina; but she is right Terry. You were really weak on all your vitals by the time Areina reached you." Bruce said, and with that said, Terry was about to say something but knew that Bruce and Areina were right.

"You still shouldn't have been out there." Terry said with a little softness to his voice.

"Who was going to come save you, Bruce? Or maybe Max, I was the only one that could hold my own against Dent." Areina said as she jumped off the medical table and stormed out of the cave to the manor.

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Gotham Police Station, One Hour Later

The Jokerz had been brought in after someone had tipped the police off as to their location. All four of them had been separated into different interrogation rooms, even the Dee Dees were split. Woof couldn't talk so they just moved him to the holding cell. The Dee Dees wouldn't say anything, seeing as they could go away for a long time for kidnapping, so they two were taken to the holding cells, which only left Ghoul. They had been interrogating him since he was brought in, but he wasn't cracking.

"This one is hard; you'd think he'd be the one to crack." One of the police officers on their side of the two way mirror said as he kept a close eye on Ghoul.

"Let me see what I can do officers." A new voice said, and the officers turned, only to see the clerk to the DA entering their room.

"What can you do, and besides he's not going to say anything." A young officer stated.

"I think I can get him to talk to me, if you don't mind." The new comer said.

The police didn't say anything and allowed the 20 year old into the room. He then walked up to the table and placed his briefcase one top.

"Hello, I'm Carter Dent, clerk to the D.A.; I've been allowed to question you in the Grayson kidnapping case." The new interrogator said.

"I'm not talking." Ghoul stated as he turned away from Dent.

"I think you will talk, especially if I offer you a deal, I've been given approval to offer you a deal if you at least tell us who hired you to kidnap Miss Grayson." Dent said getting closer to the Jokerz gang member.

"What kind of deal?" Ghoul questioned, hoping this guy could get him out of a harsh sentence.

"If you give us the name of the person that hired you to kidnap the girl, I can get you two to five years in jail." Carter said, hoping to get something out of him.

"I'll take the deal, and the person that hired us was… you. We were promised a lot of cred if we kidnaped Wayne, but the kid was the only person home at the time." Ghoul said, but suddenly Carter was right at Ghoul's ear, and started to talk.

"You know what I can do. Say I set it up again, and you'll be in darkness forever." Carter whispered to the leader of the Jokerz gang.

"Alright, I don't know who hired us; we were contacted over the phone." Ghoul said as fear hit him.

"Very well, since you can't give me a name, there's no deal; goodbye." Carter then said and walked out of the room.

"You tried Carter, but I don't think we'll ever know who did it." One policeman said, and with that, Carter Dent gave them a wave goodbye and left the room.

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In the living room of the manor, Areina was sitting on the couch not really staring at anything. She had punched the couch cushion on her left about five times, trying to release some of her anger, but it didn't help that much. Suddenly, Terry came out of the cave and was looking for her. When he found her, he walked up and sat on the untouched cushion and looked her way without turning his head.

"I'm sorry, Terry. You're the first real friend I've had, and I was worried I would lose you." Areina said.

"I had a feeling it was because you cared about me; and I'm sorry for thinking that you couldn't handle it yourself. You were great, and your fire power is incredible; I think your mom would be proud." Terry stated, truth in his words, he was proud of her.

"I've only heard stories about mom, but Bruce says he's seeing more of her in me every day." Areina stated as she looked up at her friend, and showed a slight smile.

"I wish I knew your mom, I've only heard stories about Cardinal, how come you never met her." Terry was curious about why Areina was talking about her mother like she never knew her.

"The day I was born was the day mom died. From what I'm told her heart gave out while in the delivery room. When I was seven I found the Batcave and Bruce started telling me everything about their adventures. He was training me so I'd know everything she did. I also learned a lot about her from Uncle Dick, with him being Robin; he had a lot to say when I asked." Areina said as small tears started to roll down her cheeks. "I remember Bruce telling me that you lost your dad like two days before you first put on the suit."  
>"You were out of town, now I remember." Terry said, looking down at the ground. "My dad was killed by one of Derek Powers' underlings, and it was made to look like it was a group of Jokerz. Dad had taken some data from WaynePowers and I brought it to Bruce who told me what it was. That's when I swiped the suit and went after Powers myself."<p>

"You wanted to avenge your father's murder, it was reasonable." Areina stated when she heard the long pause in Terry's story. "I was visiting Uncle Dick that day."

"Bruce deactivated the suit, and let me get beat up some, but he finally gave in when I said something about his past and why he was Batman in the first place." Terry said and stopped when he heard a small giggle.

"Sorry, but you know how stubborn Bruce is, I'm not surprised he did that." Areina said. "I remember when Derek Powers was revealed as Blythe, so whatever your dad was concerned about must have changed him."

"Right, but anyway, Bruce saw some potential in me, and decided that Gotham needed Batman again." Terry added, and with that, they both felt better, but one thing was eating at him. "If I might, how did you decide on the name Red Bird?"

"Since mom was Cardinal, and I share her genes and power, I thought I'd keep her memory alive, my name is also related to hers." Areina stated as a smile graced her face, and some more tears were falling.

"Well, I think you DO honor her memory." Terry said as he got off the couch and turned to Areina with a grin on his face.

Areina got off the couch, and surprised Terry when she gave him a hug. The one thing going through the boy's mind was that this talk was just what she needed, and lightly returned the hug.

It only lasted a second, but when they released it, they felt their friendship turning into that of a family bond, like the one Areina shared with her uncle. They then got the same idea, and headed toward the Batcave. When they were at Bruce's side, they saw him running through some old files.

"I was trying to find out if Harvey had a child that no one knew about and I found twins, Duela and Taylor Dent. Harvey had a wife for a while before he became Two-Face, Gilda, but she went off the grid not long after Two-Face appeared." Bruce said, not moving his eyes from the computer.

"Carter did mention the name Taylor, saying that his father didn't have the courage to do what he was about to do." Terry stated as he thought back to what had happened.

"I say you go talk to Carter's mother, I'll let Static know you'll be in town incase anything happens." Bruce said. "Leaving in the morning?"

"Yea, I need some sleep." Areina said with a yawn in her voice.

"I'm sure mom wouldn't mind if I stayed here for the night, I'll say I have to help you two with something out of town, thank goodness it's the weekend." Terry remarked, knowing they would probably leave early in the morning.

As the two left the cave, Bruce started typing on the computer, sending an e-mail to Static and Gear so they would be expecting them.

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Terry had made the call to his mom the moment they entered the study, and she said that it was alright, and to be safe while he was out of town. Areina led the young Dark Knight upstairs and to the guest room. He settled in nicely, and was out the minute his head hit the pillow. Areina smiled at this, and headed out for her own room; which when she entered, she two was passed out in a minute.

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><p>Alright, so I'm about caught up with my original version of this story, but I'm having trouble from there. I ask you my friends to help me with a problem. Should Drow try to kidnap Bruce agian, or hunt down Dick, figuring he has to be related to Areina. Also, With Roy as Areina's father, I did that long before young Justice even aired, and I just assumed green eyes for her since most redheads have green eyes. Just an update.<p> 


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next morning was the same as usual, Ace decided however to wake up the sleeping teens so they could get to work on their mission. When he peeked into Areina's room first, she was already up and getting ready to leave.

"Hey Ace, guess I beat you to it. How about we go scare the crud out of Terry?" Areina said as she turned around and pet the family dog.

Ace then let out a quiet bark, and the two headed to the guess bedroom. Areina quietly opened the door and saw her friend still sleeping. She motioned to Ace and even though the girl was not a telepath, the dog knew exactly what she had in mind. The German Shepard/Boxer then slowly stalked into the room, and got right by the bed before barking as loud as he could. This caused Terry to shoot up out of a nice sleep and looked for the sound. When he saw Ace he just frowned, but then he heard laughter coming from the door to his room.

"Very funny, Areina, I see he got you up too." Terry said as he turned to face his friend without leaving his sitting position from a moment ago.

"I was actually up before Ace came in; and I thought it might be good to have a laugh this morning." Areina said with laughter still in her voice.

"I'll be downstairs in a bit." Terry said, and with that Areina just smiled, called Ace to her, and they headed out to let Terry get up.

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On the other side of town, Drow was trying to figure out some way to get his revenge, but he didn't want to go after Batman directly again, he needed some bait. He had thought about looking through Bruce's past to see if there was anything he could use to get the old man. He found that Bruce had taken in several kids in the old days. Upon looking further into it, he found the perfect person, and he had to head to Blüdhaven.

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Skies over Dakota, Three Hours Later

They had taken the Batmobile to get to Dakota, but decided to land on the outskirts of the city so as not to draw too much attention. When they got out, Red Bird had suggested they go into town in their civilian IDs. They entered the city, and Areina had pulled out her phone after it beeped.

"Okay, Bruce sent me Gale Dent's address and it looks like it's on the other side of town." Areina said as she found the email on her phone.

"Great, we should have flown over there in the first place." Terry said, still rather tired and sore.

"Why don't we just take the subway?" Areina stated as she pointed toward the nearby subway stairs.

Terry couldn't help but face palm himself when he saw the stairs, so they headed that way. When they got to the station, Areina located the line map and found the right train, so all they had to do was wait.

"Hey, you must be new, because people in Dakota know that this is my turf." A voice said, and with that Areina and Terry turned around in the direction of the voice. A girl around 18 years old came out of the shadows and was walking close to them.

"We don't want any trouble; we're just here to catch the subway." Terry said, and suddenly as he started to walk forward, a fireball came his way. He looked at Areina, but all she did was softly shake her head.

"I'm telling you for the last time; get out of here before I burn you where you stand." The girl said, and with that, she activated a fireball.

"I think I'll take that challenge." Areina said as she walked toward the teen.

Terry reached out and grabbed her arm, but all she did was turn and give him a smile. When Areina got up to the girl, all she did was touch her chest, and suddenly the girl dropped, unconscious.

"What the heck just happened?" Terry stated with a surprised look on his face.

"I was able to lower her body temperature enough to make her pass out." Areina stated with a smirk.

"I didn't know you could do that." Terry remarked.

"It was worth a shot." Areina said; then turned her attention back to the train tracks, which just then was occupied by a train.

The two got on the train and it took off, heading for the station closest to 114 Hamlin Street. They arrived at their stop, and found that they were just two streets away. They started walking and soon found themselves at the address and went up to the door. Areina knocked on it and a voice was heard saying 'who is it'.

"My name is Areina Grayson; I came from Gotham to talk to you about your son, Carter." Areina said into the door, and three seconds later it was opened, revealing a woman in her late fifties with lightening purple hair and pale blue eyes.

"What's wrong with Carter?" She asked, some worry in her voice.

"Is it alright if we come in, Mrs. Dent; this is better discussed inside." Terry stated.

"Please, I'll get some refreshments." Gale said as she motioned for them to come in.

The two teens were escorted to the sitting room in the Dakota City brownstone. Their host then left to get some drinks. When she returned, she placed a pitcher of tea and three glasses of ice on the coffee table and started to pour the drinks.

"Why would two teens from Gotham come all this way to talk to me about my son?" Gale asked as she handed Terry and Areina their glasses.

"I don't know if the news made it here to Dakota, but I'm the girl from Gotham that was kidnapped a couple of months ago." Areina said, hoping the news had made it to Gale's city.

"I did hear about that, I thought your name sounded familiar, I'm so sorry to hear about that, but I still don't understand." Gale said.

"What Areina is trying to say is that while she was being held captive, she learned that her captor was Two-Face's grandson, and after talking to the police a few days later, we learned that Harvey only had one grandson, and that was Carter." Terry said, hoping he could help Gale to understand what Areina was trying to say.

Gale Dent looked disappointed, but not surprised. "I guess he took those old stories his father told to heart, but I never thought he go as far as that. Miss Grayson, I'm so sorry that this happened to you."

"There was one other thing, Carter seemed to have a meta ability, he could create a darkness from out of nowhere. It was unusual, and we thought you'd have an answer to that." Areina said, hoping this would get her to willingly mention that she use to possess that power.

"Oh dear, I was hoping that this wouldn't happen; you see, when the Big Bang hit Dakota about forty years ago, I was one of the hundreds of Bang Babies. I could create something called Dark Matter, and no matter what, no light could get in, and it was impossible to see through." Gale said, seeming ashamed of the information.

"I understood that there was a vaccine made within about two years, it should have neutralized any powers." Terry stated, thinking back to his studies.

"It was, and I was cured, but I guess the gas left the change in my DNA, and when I had Carter, it transferred to him. Miss Grayson, I am so sorry for what happened, I just wish Carter would call me, but since he got that job in Gotham, he's been so busy working for the D.A." Gale said, on the verge of tears.

"Thank you for your concern, but I just thought we should talk to you, and let you know what was happening with him." Areina said, hoping to ease the mother's worry.

"I'm glad you came to talk to me. If you don't mind, I think I need to talk to Taylor about this." Gale said, and getting the hint, Terry and Areina got up to leave, but not before thanking Gale for taking the time to listen.

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Blüdhaven, Four Hours Later

Drow had arrived in Blüdhaven hours earlier, just getting a feel for the city before going after his prize. Once he felt he was secure in the knowledge he gained, he headed for 324 Wester Ave to locate his target. It didn't take long for him to arrive; then he headed into the apartment building and went looking for 8D.

"How can a former ward to Bruce Wayne want to live here?" Drow said to himself as he took in his surroundings before getting to the eighth floor, and realizing it was the top one. He located the apartment and kicked in the door.

There were no lights on, and the place was empty. Upon looking around, the villain was curious as to why the person he was after would live in a large loft when he was the only person living there. Drow turned on the light and was shocked by what he saw; training equipment, weapons, and others similar items. As he was starting to piece everything together, the Gotham villain heard a noise, and hid behind a wall of dark matter to hide himself.

Suddenly, a hidden door opened in the ceiling of the room, and a figure dropped down. With the lights still on, the figure was revealed to be Nightwing, Blüdhaven's protector. Nightwing reached up to remove his mask, and Drow saw something shocking. The grandson to Two-Face discovered that his target, Dick Grayson, was in fact Nightwing.

"So, now I know where young Areina learned some of her martial arts. Another thing is that if you were the original Robin, then your guardian was Batman." Drow's voice said through the darkness.

Dick turned around shocked that someone was able to discover his secret, but knew that he had to take out this intruder. Before the acrobat could react, a dark shadow disappeared revealing the intruder.

"Dent, so you wanted to try and use me against Batman, well it won't work." Dick said as he got into a fighting stance.

"I think it will, as your niece and her friend have learn, you can't escape from Drow." The villain said as he went to attack.

"If you forgot, Areina did escape you, but then again, villains never do learn from their mistakes." Dick said as he blocked a kick.

"Well now that I know their secrets, I will be able to attack behind the scenes." Drow remarked, and with that, he let his dark matter loose, which surrounded the hero, and it stayed there for a good ten minutes.

When the dark matter dissipated, Dick was laying on the floor unconscious. Drow walked over and looked at his victim, and smiled before dragging him out of the room.

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><p>Drow has figured out Bruce, Terry, and Areina's secrets; but now he also has Nightwing in his clutches, what will happen next, well you just have to wait and see.<p> 


	11. Chapter 10

Okay, before you read any further, this is a short Chapter, but I figured I would end it how I did.

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

Two Weeks Later, Areina's Birthday

Today was the happiest and sadist day of Areina's life, it was her birthday, but it was also the day her mother, Reiena, died. Terry had arrived to help his partner in crime fighting celebrate her 18th birthday. The 'party' was supposed to start about two hours ago, but the birthday girl would not start the party without her uncle there. Everyone was worried, even Barbara, who was invited since she knew Reiena.

Suddenly the phone rang, and Areina answered it. "Uncle Dick, what's taking you so long?"

"I'm sorry, but Nightwing won't be making it to the party, although you can send the party here." The voice on the other end of the line said.

"Dent! What have you done to my uncle?" Areina said, with anger and fear in her voice.

At the sound of this, everyone was around her, and listening in after she put the phone on speaker.

"Areina, don't do it." A familiar voice said, but it was faint and weak.

"What do you want Carter." Bruce said with his sternest voice ever.

"I want you Bruce. You're the one that disgraced my grandfather and the one I want my revenge on you. If you're not here by 2 PM tomorrow, I will kill Dick." Carter's voice said. "Also, I'm sure that the Police Commissioner is there, so I don't want to see any police with you. If I see Areina or Terry around, I'll kill my captive after I kill you."

"You know it wouldn't be a fair fight, Drow, since Bruce is in his 80s, but you can take me in Uncle Dick's place." Areina said, on the verge of tears.

"You escaped me last time because of your fire ability, so I'd rather keep someone that can't escape." Drow said with what sounded like confidence in his voice.

"If you hurt him, Drow, I swear I'll hunt you down until I get you." Areina said, holding the phone so tight it was about to break.

"Once I get my revenge on your grandfather, your uncle is free to go, but he will need a hospital for a while. The past two weeks have been pretty hard on him. Remember, Bruce, tomorrow at 2 PM." Drow said, and with that ended, the line went dead.

There was no sound as everyone was in shock, but Areina was about to burn the place down. Terry could feel the heat coming off her body, as could Bruce and Barbara. Without saying a word, Areina headed to the downstairs study and disappeared through the opening behind the grandfather clock. The other occupants of the house followed her, worried, and wanted to make sure she wasn't going to do anything dangerous.

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Abandoned Historic Half Moon Lounge Building

The partly demolished building still had some of its rooms that could be used, and in one on the rooms was Dick. Drow took every precaution to ensure that Dick wouldn't be able to escape. The acrobat/crime fighter was chained against a wall in the room; with the chains incasing his body, immobilizing him completely. Drow himself was walking over to the semi conscious man and smacked him on the face.

"Even if you hadn't said anything, Bruce would still come, but now I get the feeling your lovely niece will be the one to come, but she will die this time." Drow said as Dick gave him an intense glare.

"Say what you will about Areina, but she has Grayson blood, her father's temper, and Bruce's stubbornness; which comes from living with him for years." Dick said as he once again tested the chains, but came up with the same results as he had over the past two weeks.

Dick's body had several bruises all over his body, and deep cuts that were very close to some vital organs. His training was that of someone raised by Batman, so he was able to handle the pain, but what he couldn't handle was the slow blood loss.

"That may be true Dick, but once she sees what you look like after two weeks of torture, I'm sure she'll leave this matter to Bruce. I want him to suffer for what he did to Harvey Dent, and he will." Drow said as he got in Dick's face.

"Harvey was scarred long before the accident that scarred his skin. Your grandfather had a bad childhood that physiologically scarred him, and when trying to stop Thorne from revealing this secret of his, he was injured. Batman didn't create Two-Face, if anyone was responsible, it was Rupert Thorne." Dick explained as Drow got out of his face.

What the captive hero was not expecting was that the villain turned quickly and punched him in the stomach. Without making a sound, Dick passed out.

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In the Batcave, Bruce was trying to talk Areina out of going.

"Bruce, I've lost my mother; I know what happened to my grandparents, so I'm not going to lose my uncle." Areina said, pulling on her gloves.

"I feel the same way, but going to save Dick with that kind of anger will only get you killed, along with him." Barbara stated, thinking about all that the Grayson family had gone through.

"I'm not letting Bruce give up his life for my uncle. Drow needs to learn to never mess with a member of the Bat family." Areina said as she put her mask on.

"I can't let you go alone, I'm going too." Terry said as he grabbed his backpack and opened it.

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><p>To DarthZ: if I'm right from your last review, you hate Drow even more, but don't worry, I think I have my plans perfected. Although, any ideas for how to humiliate the villain, let me know. I'm not going to kill him, Bat family members don't kill.<p> 


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Red Bird and Batman were out patrolling the city, of course any crime right now would be a good anger release. Before they left the cave, Bruce was able to convince the fire controller, after about thirty minutes, that she could be endangering Dick more than if she waited. So far tonight, they had caught two different gangs robbing jewelry stores, and even broke up a small gang war. Red Bird had cooled off some, but not enough for Batman's liking, as he had never seen her so mad in the time since he started as the Dark Knight.

Suddenly, an alert sounded in the Batmobile and Red Bird's comm. link and they went to the area where the alert came from. It took about five minutes, and when they arrived, it was a burglary and arson. The two heroes knew their jobs and went right to work. Batman started looking for the culprits while Red Bird went into the building to look for anyone alive and try to reduce the fire.

Batman had chased down the culprits and it turned out to be the Royal Flush Gang. King went after the Dark Knight with his sword, but Batman was able to dodge all the attacks. Ace came up, and started punching, with one strong punch, sent Batman flying into a close by wall.

Back at the burning building, Red Bird was looking through the building to find anyone in trouble. She made it to the fifth floor by moving the flames away from the stairs, and that's when she found a mother and her young daughter and son. They were already coughing from the large amount of smoke around them. The heroine came close to them, and when they saw her suit, it seemed to comfort them.

"I'm Red Bird, don't worry. Can you all walk?" Red Bird questioned, and the woman checked her kids; then nodded. "Okay, I can get you out of here safely, but I need you to stay close to me, alright."

The mother nodded and assured her children that it would be alright, and they all three got close to the girl, and they headed out. Just as they got to the stairs, a large beam of wood that was in flames fell right in front of them. The mother and children screamed but Red Bird stayed calm and used her Meta power to reduce the fire to nothing, when she looked down, there was fire coming up the stairs. Red Bird didn't hesitate in moving the fire out of the way and keeping it at bay until the family behind her was clear for her to move the next area.

Back with Batman, he was still fighting the thieving gang and actually took out Queen, Ace and Ten, which only left King and Jack. Jack went first, and got a couple of punches in and Batman was out.

Red Bird and the family were on the bottom floor and made their way out of the building. Once she made sure the family was a safe distance, the fire controller started to draw the fire in around her, and was making it the heat reduce until the fire went out completely. The building was still standing, just damaged, and the family was safe; which seemed to happen just in time as her comm. link beeped.

"Alright, I'm on my way." Red Bird said after getting information on what was happening. "There is a temporary shelter on corner of Hill and Sora; I have a friend that contacted them to let them know what happened."

The mother thanked the heroine, and led her kids away. Red Bird was feeling good, but then her uncle came back into her thoughts, she was once again angry about what happened, but then remembered that Batman needed her help, so she took off flying.

King was about to deal the final blow to the Dark Knight, but suddenly, the sword was hit with a fireball, and instantly melted.

"Back off King, or you'll be sorry." A voice said from the shadows.

"Who dares to interfere with the Royal Flush Gang?" King said, and suddenly, he was shoved into a wall.

When the leader of the gang looked up, he saw a figure standing in pure flame. He tried to stand up, but suddenly, it's like he was lifted up in the air. Red Bird had heated the air around him and made him fly like she did, but when he was high enough, she stopped the heat around him and he started to fall. Batman was coming too and saw this, but when he was about to fly up and save King, Red Bird flew up and punched him in the stomach, then caught him and landed on the ground.

"Think you got all that anger out yet?" Batman asked as he came up beside his ally, holding his ribs.

"Not completely, but I don't feel like killing him any more if that's what you mean." Red Bird said, and soon enough, they were tying up the Royal Flush Gang getting them ready for the police to pick up.

With their job finished, they headed home, and when they arrived, Bruce was waiting there.

"I saw what happened, you almost lost control Areina." Bruce remarked.

"Just as I got to the fight with King, my mind went back to thinking about Uncle Dick and rage just took over. Just at the end, I snapped out of the rage and simply knocked the wind out of King. Jack was easy enough, started to run and hit his head on a low fire escape." Areina stated as she pulled her mask off.

"You need to relax, we'll get Dick back, don't worry, and I'm sure you will get some kind of revenge on Drow." Terry said as he removed his cowl.

"What gets me thinking about it is the fact that he would risk his life, and so would mom, but then they were doing it to protect innocent people. He was out there every night helping keep Gotham safe, and now he's the one in grave danger, and there's nothing I can do to help him." Areina said as her voice had some anger, but there were tears in her eyes.

"We'll get him back." Terry said as he hugged his friend. "My dad was never captured like Dick was, but I do miss him. I won't let Dick die; okay."

When the embrace broke, Areina was slightly smiling, and she nodded, then went to change for the night, and when she was ready, she decided to go to bed.

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In Drow's headquarters, Dick's wounds had been dressed, seeing as the villain didn't want his captive to bleed to death before his prey arrived. Drow decided to talk to his prisoner and see if he could get him riled up.

"So Dick, what happened, lose your parents and then your sister. I think it was for the best, and now if your niece comes to save you, she'll be lost to you as well." Drow stated as he got right in Dick's face.

At the mention of his family, Dick's eyes started to show rage, and he weakly struggled to try and free his arms so he could strangle the 20 something year old for insulting his family, and threatening his niece.

"You're still delusional; you really think Areina will just roll over, especially after she sees what you did to me." Dick stated; anger still in his eyes and now in his voice.

"To save you, she's offered herself in your place, but like I said, I'd rather keep you. Bruce is stubborn, but he wouldn't risk the life of someone that is like a son to him; the old man will arrive." Drow said, and with that he left, leaving Dick with a lot of rage and worry on his mind.

"I hope they come up with a plan." Dick said to himself as he let sleep take over.

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><p>Last chapter coming up, I think it will take some time, so I hope you enjoy this until then. DarthZ, your idea will be seen in the story finale, don't worry, and if I get the story going well enough, I may have two more chapters.<p> 


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The next morning, Areina woke up and didn't even bother with breakfast, she went straight to the Batcave. She had a rough night, loaded with nightmares, and none of them were pretty. The 18 year old walked over to the display cases and stood infront of the Nightwing suit that was there. Areina just couldn't seem to pull herself away from the case. Suddenly, Terry was behind her, and she actually jumped.

"Sorry, guess you were lost in thought." Terry said holding his hands up in surrender as he saw Areina form a fireball.

"Terry, what if we can't save Uncle Dick; Bruce will have to give himself to that maniac. Dick and Bruce are the only family I've ever known, I just can't lose them." Areina said, crying for the first time since her birthday.

"I know Stripes, but hey, we'll get him back." Terry stated as he placed a hand on his friends shoulder.

"Since Uncle Dick's captured, I'm going to let that slide, but thanks, Ter." Areina said as she let out a sigh and walked away from the display case and up to the computer.

The teen started typing on it, looking through Two-Face's file, mostly for places that he would have used as a hideout. Terry was not far behind, and curious as to Areina's motives. Suddenly, she found something; an encounter that happened at a place called the Half Moon Club, and began reading the report.

_Harvey Dent had 'suppressed' his dark side, and was finally ready to be rid of the scarred side of his face so he would be back to normal. Suddenly, Dent was kidnapped, and when the Dynamic Duo split up to find him, and after a dead end with Penguin, Batman figured out there was one person that hated Harvey more than Penguin._

_Meanwhile, Robin was investigating Rupert Thorne, and discovered that he was not the culprit, although he did try to get rid of Robin by throwing him off the Gotham Bridge._

_Batman headed to the Half Moon Lounge, where he figured the 'kidnapper' would be, and his suspicions were right. The person that took Harvey Dent from the hospital was Two-Face himself. Turns out that Two-Face wasn't leaving, and gave his men ordered to take Harvey should anything like this happened._

_Batman knew and confronted him but was captured. When he woke up, he was suspended under a huge bomb. The villain was going it to blow the rest of the partly demolished building and Batman up in one fell swoop. However, Batman was able to free himself, and stopped Two-Face, but the top of the Half Moon Lounge was blown up._

Areina finished reading the report, and figured out what was going on with Drow. She then pulled up the numbers that had called the house over the past two days; then found the time from yesterday. She then ran the number through the Batcomputer's satellite and found the location. The fire controller's work paid off and she was right, the number used to call the manor was made on a cellphone used in or near the Half Moon Lounge.

"I see you got an early start." A voice said.

"Well, today is the day, and I'm going with you, we can make him give us that bend in the rules." Areina said, turning around and saw her grandfather standing behind her.

"He seems reasonable, but we have to be careful." Bruce said, hoping that he and Areina were right.

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Dick was awakened by the sunlight coming in through the broken window, and he found he was in the same position he had been in for the past two weeks. He groaned in pain, and suddenly, there was another presence in the room.

"Well, Grayson, ready for today?" The voice asked.

"Maybe, but I do have one request. If you know Areina as well as I do, then she will come with Bruce…" Dick said; his voice even weaker.

"If she does come, I'll give her time to say goodbye, then all three of you will die." Drow responded.

"WHY YOU…" Dick hollered, struggling against his chains to try and stop the 20 year old from threatening his family anymore.

"Sorry Dick, but you won't be getting out of those chains alive." Drow said as he laughed, then left out of the room to get ready for his visitor(s).

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1:30 PM near Half Moon Lounge

Bruce and Areina were sitting in the car, thinking about what was going on. Terry was not far away, ready as Batman incase the two residents of Wayne Manor needed him. Alongside Batman was the ever faithful Ace, who Terry has sometimes called Bathound.

"Don't worry, Areina, I've known Dick since he was eight; I'm sure Drow was talked into letting you come in too." Bruce said as he saw Areina lean back against an old brick wall with a scared look on her face.

"I know that, Bruce; I'm more worried about what Drow did to Dick over the past two weeks. I've only heard stories about things that have happened to him, but I'm sure he's really hurt, I didn't like the way his voice sounded." Areina stated, her usually bright eyes filled with sorrow.

"I know he's the only blood family you have left, but you have me, and Terry; we'll always help you, and right now, you still have Dick. Nothing ever took him from me, although there were some close times; and now, Drow won't take him, not if we have anything to say about it." Bruce said, and with that, his watch beeped. "Well, time to go."

The two headed down the road further into the historic district, with Terry and Ace not far behind. Soon, they got to the building, and Areina let out a heavy sigh before they entered. They were met in the lobby of the building by the very man they were to meet.

"Looks like Dick was right, you did come, Areina." Drow said.

Areina clenched her when Dick's name was mentioned, and apparently Drow saw this and laughed.

"Would you like to see him before you die, Bruce?" Drow stated, a smirk on his face.

"Yes; come on, Areina." Bruce said, knowing he wanted to get a good look at Dick's situation before the plan was put into action.

The villain led the two toward the room where he had Dick chained up, but suddenly the temperature in the area slightly rose. When Drow looked around, he saw that the air around Areina was slightly heated. He told her to relax, and the temperature in the room lowered. Drow then opened the door and turned on the light. Bruce and Areina froze where they stood when they saw Dick.

"Uncle Dick!" Areina hollered, tears threatening to leave her eyes.

Hearing his name coming from such an innocent voice caused him to stir, and when he opened his eyes, he saw his neice and 'father' and wanted to try to move; but with his injuries and lack of nutrition, he could only lift his head up.

"You may go hug him, but I'd be careful of his injuries." Drow said with a smirk, and with that Areina headed right to her uncle.

When she arrived, she lightly hugged him, then stood back a bit and took in his injuries. He still had the old cuts from yesterday, but now he had new ones, and they were very fresh, and bleeding heavily.

"So, Bruce, are you ready to pay for what you did to my grandfather." Drow said, now noticed to be holding a knife.

"I did what I had to protecting this city. Harvey was my friend, but I'm not the one that turned him into Two-Face, and you know that. When he threatened Gotham, I had to stop him." Bruce said as he didn't move.

"My father told the stories of Harvey's disgrace. I swore that when I was old enough, I would get revenge for him" Drow said as he absorbed what Bruce said.

While the two talked, Areina set to work trying to close Dick's injuries by singeing the skin closed. He grunted a bit at the heat from the fire on the wounds, but it felt good to not lose any more blood. The older wounds were already closing, but Areina sped up the process with those too.

Suddenly, the knife in Drow's hand was coming right for Areina. "Areina, watch out."  
>Without moving from healing her uncle, Areina put up a fire shield that was hot enough to completely melt the blade on the knife, and the handle lightly hit Areina in the shoulder, but that didn't stop her.<p>

"So, you have some of your mother's tricks, cute." Drow said as he went after Areina, but suddenly, his left ankle was pulled backward by something, and when he looked back, it was Bruce's cane.

Areina looked back to see Bruce trying to hold Drow away from the girl and her uncle, but Bruce was unable to hold him off long. Areina knew it was time, and so she pressed her comm. link to signal Batman and Ace. After she signaled the Dark Knight, Areina started to heat up the chains holding Dick, and was ready to get him somewhere inside the building he would be safe.

Bruce was able to dodge some of Drow's punches, but just then, the ceiling was destroyed and Batman dropped down between the Gotham billionaire and the villain. Right beside the Dark Knight, was the ever faithful Ace, who was ready to fight. Drow immediately went after Batman, and this gave Bruce the opportunity to help his son and granddaughter. Areina was having trouble holding Dick while she tried to get him out of the tangle of chains, but Bruce was there, and he started to help.

"Hey, Bruce, what took so long?" Dick joked, hoping to ease the tension in the room.

"You know you're in no condition to joke, but at least you're alive." Bruce said as he pulled the last chain off Dick.

The Blüdhaven resident started to fall, but Areina quickly caught him, and Bruce got on his left side, and they two helped Dick out of the room while Batman and Ace kept Drow distracted. They went two rooms away, and Areina was ready to help Terry. She and Bruce sat Dick on the floor and leaned his back against the wall.

"Go, Terry needs you." Bruce said, looking from is son to his granddaughter.

"Right." Areina said, and she started to pull her shirt off and her Red Bird bodysuit was under her shirt.

"So, taking up Reiena's legacy huh, well go get him." Dick said as Areina pulled out her mask and gloves. "Good luck, Cardinal."

"It's Red Bird, but I think mom would be proud." Areina said as she placed the mask over her eyes, becoming the new fire controlling heroine of Gotham.

"You're right, I can actually feel her smiling." Dick said with a smile on his face.

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><p>Well, the big fight is about to begin, and also the end of the story, what do you think.<p> 


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The fight between Drow and Batman was intense. Drow was trying to use his martial arts, but Batman was able to fight back even better than his opponent, and he seemed to be winning. Suddenly, Drow activated his Meta power and sent the darkness toward the Dark Knight. Batman didn't know what to do, but suddenly, he was surrounded by a brilliant light, and when he got a closer look at it, it was white fire. The dark matter tried to get through it, but the fire was not backing down.

"Okay, Dent, you are going to pay for what you did, and this time, I mean it. You abducted me almost three months ago, then three weeks ago you go after Terry, and now you did the worst possible thing to me; you kidnap and torture my uncle." A voice said as the fire died down and went from white to orange to red, then disappeared.

"Oh come on, you know what, I'm getting tired of you, Areina, and now, I'll finish off the Batman Legacy AND the Cardinal legacy at the same time." Drow said, and with that, Red Bird came out of her hiding place behind the old door to the room, and was ready for anything the villain would dish out.

"Now I see why Bruce was so annoyed with Harvey at times. His obsessions were crazy, and so are yours." Red Bird said as she went right after Drow.

The fight started out with Red Bird fighting Drow hand to hand. Drow was starting to fight dirty, but Red Bird was starting to fight dirty too. Batman saw this, and thought he might help by jumping in but that plan was quickly dispersed as Drow caught his arm, and twisted it so far behind his back that the Dark Knight's shoulder dislocated. Batman let out a scream of pain, and backed away. Seeing and hearing this made Red Bird mad, and she really started letting Drow have it. She was starting to fight out of anger, but as usual this did not help matters as Drow was starting to get the upper hand.

"So, have you had enough?" Drow stated, but he didn't know that Red Bird was just getting started.

"You wish; how about we make this a battle of powers." Red Bird taunted.

"Very well, if you insist." Drow said, and he started to let his dark matter start to leak out.

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Two rooms away, Bruce was keeping an eye on the door and his son. The man in his 50's was now passed out, probably from the pain of being moved. The billionaire had seen Dick badly injured before, but now, he was actually worried. Suddenly, there was a slight noise coming from Dick, and Bruce's attention was turned totally to him.

"Dick, it's alright, Areina got you out of harms way, and she and Terry are fighting Drow to hopefully stop him." Bruce said, hoping he could reassure his son that he would be alright.

"They'll do it, I know they will, but I don't think I'm getting out of here alive, looks like Drow was right." Dick said, remembering what was said before Bruce and Areina arrived.

"You can't start talking like that now, your whole life has been one injury after another, and if I have to, I'll keep you alive. Areina won't lose another member of her family." Bruce said, his stubbornness starting to come out full force.

"Believe what you want." Dick weakly said as his breathing became more ragged.

"If you die, Areina will follow you and kill you all over again." Bruce stated, hoping that would give Dick a reason to live.

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Red Bird was so fixated on defeating this villain that she was able to manifest enough fire to make a sword, and it turns out that that Drow was also able to do this with his power. So now it was a sword fight, and they were very evenly matched. Drow was really giving Red Bird a run for her money. Areina thought that the only way to fight a criminal was to think like him, so before Drow saw it coming, Areina used her power to pull some fire from her sword, and sent the fireball to Drow's leg.

This caused the villain to scream in pain and rage. Drow's sword then vanished since his concentration was gone. Batman saw this and figured he could try to capture him now, so he launched a couple of Batarangs, but Drow was able to dodge them. Red Bird let her sword disappear and started back to hand to hand combat, and she was getting a lot of kicks in, when something happened. Drow was able to catch her right arm, and did the same as he had done to the Dark Knight; dislocated the shoulder. Red Bird didn't scream in pain, just winced, so Drow decided to take it a bit further, since she had been the one messing up his revenge at every corner, by breaking her right forearm.

This earned a scream of pain from the heroine, and she backed away once her arm was released. Batman worked hard to get Drow away from Red Bird, and it worked, but Terry was also at a disadvantage because of his own dislocated shoulder. Even with the disadvantage, Batman was able to catch Drow.

"Red Bird, burn him." Batman said, able to keep Drow still.

Red Bird figured out what her friend was saying, and used her good arm to get a strong fireball up but was reluctant to send it Drow's way.

"Areina, do it; I'll be alright." Batman said, figuring why she was hesitating.

With that, Red Bird released the fireball, which now was as white as the fire when she returned to fight the villain. It made contact with the villain, and Batman quickly got out of the way. The fire made contact with Drow, and he screamed in pain. Batman went over and joined Red Bird, ready for anything else the villain may throw at them. He was not in pain long; then realized what happened, since the skin under his hair felt strange. It turns out that the fireball mostly hit the right side of his head, and burned the skin so bad that the hair was completely gone.

"What have you done?" Drow shouted with seething rage in his voice.

"It's better than you deserve. Right now, you deserve to die, but, I wouldn't be any better than you are right now, would I." Red Bird said, standing strong, and ready for anything that was to come her way.

"Oh believe me, right now, I'm better than you, and I'll prove it." Drow remarked, and suddenly went after Batman.

The Dark Knight was unprepared, and Drow was able to punch him in his injured shoulder. Batman cried out a bit, and backed away, knowing that Red Bird was about to go all out on the villain. He was right, as Red Bird started wailing on Drow, but she also didn't see a sneak attack coming. Drow was able to put enough force behind a kick, that he was able to break the heroine's left leg. She stumbled backward and had to lean against the wall to stay up.

Batman decided to end this, and threw out some knockout pellets right at Drow's feet, and instantly the villain was out. Once the knockout gas died down, Batman went and tied up Drow, then went to check on Red Bird.

"We both had dislocated shoulders, anyway you can get mine back in. Then I can help you." Red Bird said as she reached up and pulled her mask off.

"You know it will hurt." Batman joked.

"It's better than three injuries, I have a broken right forearm, the dislocated right shoulder, and I think my left leg is broken. Just do it, I'll scream, and possibly pass out, but I can fight that part off until I get your shoulder fixed." Areina said, her face twisting in pain.

Batman removed his cowl, and nodded; so he took her upper arm, and gave it an upward jerk, and a loud and nauseating pop was heard. Areina did scream, and seemed about ready to pass out, but she quickly used her left arm, and popped Terry's arm back in. Just then, Areina passed out; Terry caught her, and after picking her up, immediately headed out to the room where Dick and Bruce were.

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Terry arrived with Areina in his arms, and Bruce was worried. The billionaire saw her passed out, but when he looked at Terry, he told Bruce that she was just passed out.

"How bad are her injuries and yours?" Bruce asked.

"I had a dislocated shoulder, Areina popped it back in for me; hurt like crazy. She also had a dislocated shoulder, but before she fixed mine, I fixed hers. She also has a broken right arm and left leg. Drow really did a number on her." Terry explained as he set her on the floor next to her uncle. "How's Dick?"

"I'm alright, just weak." Dick stated, then turned his attention to his niece. "Dang, she really did take a beating huh."  
>"When Drow dislocated my shoulder, she really stepped up, but got hurt in the process. I have to admit, I never want to tick her off." Terry said, ripping off the sleeves of her costume and finding some board, the Dark Knight made a splint on Areina's injured arm and leg.<p>

"You're good, too bad you weren't born when I was fighting." Dick joked.

"Just a few things I picked up from the old man." Terry said as he finished tying the splint on Areina's leg.

"You want to be cleaning the Batcave with a toothbrush." Bruce said.

"Let's get you guys out of here, and then we can talk about it." Terry said as he picked up Dick and headed for the door.

"What about Areina?" Dick questioned.

"I'll send you and Bruce back in the Batmobile, then fly home carrying Areina." Terry assured the older hero. "I still have to get Drow to police headquarters."

"Okay, we'll go with your plan." Bruce said as they arrived outside and the Batmobile landed.

Once Bruce and Dick were in the Batmoblie, Terry set the autopilot and the vehicle took off. Terry then returned to get Drow and Areina.

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><p>not much left to do, but hey, every story needs a good ending, well you'll get one, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and also hope to hear from you.<p> 


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Police Headquarters, Commissioner Gordon's Office

Barbara was in her office when she heard a sound like something landing on the ledge outside her window. When she walked over and opened her shades, she was greeted with the sight of an unconscious and bound Carter Dent, but there were also a couple of burns. The commissioner pulled him in and called for an ambulance. After they took him out of the room, she made another call.

"Bruce, I just got Terry's present, what happened to him?" Barbara asked the old man on the screen. "And is Dick okay?"

"I don't know about Drow, but Dick's going to be fine, maybe after a month." Bruce said. "He was very weak when we got there, not to mention deep cuts all over his body."

"Looks like Red Bird did a good job." Barbara commented.

"She's badly injured too, but she'll live." Bruce said.

"Let me know how it goes." Barbara said, and with that she hung up.

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Batcave, Two Hours Later

Bruce may be old, but he still does a great job fixing up injuries. Dick was sedated about an hour ago so Bruce could check to make sure his stab wounds were not infected. Thanks to Areina, the cuts did not become infected, since the heat from the fire used to close the wounds also killed any infections that may have been starting. Bruce and Terry had already fixed up Areina, each putting a cast on one of her injured extremities.

Dick started coming to, and he moaned. Bruce was glad that his son was awake, and stood up to look the man in the face.

"Okay, remind me to never fight Bane again." Dick said, with weakness still in his voice.

"Sure, Dick." Bruce said, and suddenly, Dick's eyes widened.

"Areina, what about her." The man asked as he sat up, wincing in pain.

"She has a couple of broken bones; we fixed her up about an hour ago, we had given you a sedative about that same time. Once we got her done, Terry went to rest, and I started assessing your injuries." Bruce said.

Dick looked over at the other medical table with a smile on his face. Even though his niece was badly hurt, she got the job done, and he couldn't be any more proud then he was right now.

"What about Terry, did he take any injuries?" Dick asked, holding his ribs.

"Just a dislocated shoulder; Areina was able to fix that in the field." Bruce assured Dick.

"That girl did get her father's guts, I'll give her that." Dick said as he lay back down on the bed after getting one last glance of his niece lying on the medical bed.

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Police Headquarters, Interrogation Room Two Days Later

The police had been dealing with Drow ever since he was brought in. Before they could interrogate him, he had to visit a hospital for the burns he had on the left side of the top of his head and on his leg.

"So, you're a new villain, we'll soon find out who you really are." Commissioner Gordon said to the man.

"You never will, I'm sorry Commissioner, but my real identity will be kept from the likes of you." Drow said with a smirk on his face. "Besides you wouldn't want your little secret to get out would you."

"We do have a way of identifying you." Barbara said, but then she got right at his ear. "Also, who would believe I was ever Batgirl, anyone you tell would think you're crazy."

"Commissioner; the witness is here, shall I bring her in." An officer said as he poked his head in.

"Show her in." Barbara said as she turned to face the officer.

Soon enough a young girl started into the room, but Drow realized exactly who she was when he saw her casts and where they were.

"Ah, Miss Grayson, I haven't seen you in months." Drow said.

"Can it Dent, you kidnapped me three months ago, and then three weeks ago you kidnapped and tortured my uncle, Dick Grayson." Areina said, leaning on the crutch under her left arm, seeing as she couldn't put weight on her left leg.

"How can you be so sure, you seem to still be in a lot of pain?" Drow stated with that smirk still on his face.

"I tried to escape that first night after I was kidnapped, and I overheard you talking to that gang of Jokerz. You told them a tale about your grandfather, Harvey Dent, and how using me would lure Batman into a trap so you could end him." Areina said, not taking her eyes off the prisoner.

"Very well, I did kidnap you and your Uncle, but I sure didn't injure you and put you in your current state." Drow said. "I did that to Red Bird, but maybe she's too chicken to come here on her own, and outside of her costume."

Areina was about to heat up, when Barbara stepped in the way.

"I believe we have a positive ID on him from you, Miss Grayson. Your uncle and grandfather came with you, could you send them in." Barbara said, and with that, Areina limped out of the room, and a couple of minutes later, Dick Grayson came in, with Bruce Wayne by his side.

"Mr. Grayson, is this the man that kidnapped you from Blüdhaven?" Barbara asked in a professional manner.

"Yes, I had just come home from work, and he caught me by surprise, for the next two weeks, I was hit, stabbed, and deprived of nutrition." Dick explained.

"Well since you are all here, I guess I could just tell everyone that you were Nightwing years ago. Also, Mr. Wayne was the original Batman, and now his errand boy has that job." Drow said, his smirk becoming even deeper.

"Well, Commissioner, if I could interrupt, I'd like to say that I find it highly unlikely, seeing as Mr. Wayne was proven not to be Batman decades ago. I believe that Mr. Dent here is just making it easier to commit him to a psychiatric ward." The psychologist, Dr. Scullions, stated as he made his presence known.

"As Dr. Scullions stated, Bruce was the victim in a scam by Hugo Strange where he and Batman worked together to stop Strange. I remember my father told me about it after a few years." Barbara said, thinking back to when Bruce was almost exposed.

"How do you think Areina got those injuries, she was fighting me after melting the chains I had Dick bound with." Drow said, starting to get irritated that no one was believing him.

"That happened to her when you kidnapped her three months ago. The injuries were so severe that she's been in those casts that whole time." Barbara stated.

"I will sign any paperwork, Commissioner; Mr. Dent here needs to be committed to the psychiatric ward of Stonegate Prison immediately." Dr. Scullions said.

They all left the room, leaving Carter Dent alone, and when Barbara, Dick, Bruce, and Areina entered Barbara's office; the commission helped her young friend to a chair.

"No one ever believes a villain, do they?" Dick said, remembering back to that day with Hugo Strange.

"I almost thought that Dr. Scullions would believe him." Areina remarked.

"Well, that incident with Strange is in the public files, so he was probably researching about Two-Face, since he was there 'bidding' on my secret." Bruce said.

"Yea, along with Joker and Penguin. I was actually disguised as Bruce while he was Batman, and the plan went off without a hitch." Dick said.

"Won't Carter find a way to check hospital records; I mean he does know that I just got these injuries three days ago." Areina said.

"Terry's working on that right now, I was able to get him into the hospital's computer files, and he's setting up the record." Bruce said, and with this, Areina was satisfied.

With that said, Barbara suddenly gave Areina a hug, and the teen returned it with her one good arm.

"I'm sure you've heard this from Bruce and Dick; but I wanted to say that Reiena would be proud. You show the same determination she had, and you also have her heart. I don't know where that temper came from, but I'm glad you have it." The Commissioner said as she released the hug.

"Well, I guess I have Roy Harper to blame that on." Areina stated as she laughed.

The others started laughing, and it turned out that the past three months may have been the worst of her life, but some good came out of it. Areina was able to take up her mother's mantle with a new name and carry on the legacy.

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Two Months Later

Today was a good day, Areina was getting her two casts removed, and she could resume training in a couple more weeks, but first was rehab. Right now, she was arguing with her grandfather about starting training immediately.

"I told you know, you'll go through your rehab first, then back to training and patrol." Bruce said, since Areina was trying the Grayson pout once more.

"You know I can handle training, and besides, I'll just go to Blüdhaven and get Uncle Dick to help me out." Areina said as Bruce removed the cast from her arm.

"No way Stripes, if I've learned anything, you have to do some rehab after taking an injury like you did." A familiar voice said and with that, Areina turned her attention toward the voice.

"Oh great, you're turning into Bruce, Uncle Dick." Areina remarked, now pouting for real at the fact that she couldn't help Terry for two weeks.

"You'll be out there with me in no time, Stripes." Another familiar voice said. Without a word, Areina created a fireball, and sent it in the direction the voice came from. When it hit something, there was a slight scream, and it was revealed that Terry was the one speaking. "Ouch, what was that for?"

"I let you get by twice on that, don't expect that kind of leniency anymore." Areina said, and with that, her leg was free from its cast.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." Terry said, and with that, they all laughed.

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><p>Well, there you have it, but I can't help but thing I should do one more chapter, maybe a short one of her first time officially as Batman's sidekickpartner, I'm not sure, what do you guys think?


	16. Chapter 15

I'd like to go ahead and thank DarthZ for helping me decide on two things. 1. Whether or not to do a chapter with Red Bird's first official and 'legal' night on patrol. 2. I gave him a choice between three villains for the battle, Blythe, Inque or Mad Stan. You will see his/her choice as you read this chapter.

One more thing, I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but this was a rework and before I got this far, the story was only up to chapter 6 (around chapter 7 or 8 in this version), and I had no clue where to go from where I was, then KKCopper, a good friend of mine metioned that the story would be better with Dick in it. Thus this rewrite was born.

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><p>Chapter 15<p>

One Month Later

Areina's rehab went a little slower than originally thought, but since she was a member of this superhero family, since she was training when no one else knew. When she would be training, she's go into pain from straining her muscles too much. Finally, she was ready to start her training, and now that her uncle was healed up as well, he was willing to help her get back in fighting shape.

"Areina, remember, you may have completed your rehab; but that doesn't mean you back to full strength." Bruce said.

The 18 year old was standing in an area, waiting to get some training done. Suddenly, a whooshing sound was heard from out of nowhere. Then, a second whoosh was heard. Areina was able to dodge the first one, but wound up in the direct line of the second, but all she had to do was put up a fire shield, and the object hit it and completely melted.

"Well, my hearing is intact; Terry, Uncle Dick, you can come down now." Areina said, and with that, the two she named then came out of the rafters of the cave and landed close by.

"One on one combat, martial arts only. First up, Terry vs. Areina." Bruce said, wanting to see if Terry had any new moves, so for the original Dark Knight, it was a double show.

Terry and Areina got into fighting stances, and Dick moved over to stand beside his mentor/father. The two teens were circling around; trying to find a weakness in each other's defense and Areina was the first one to find one. The girl went right for a leg swipe, but before she could connect, Terry saw the move. The only thing the boy didn't expect when he jumped up to dodge, Areina suddenly stopped, and when she rose from her crouch position and gave Terry an uppercut.

The current Dark Knight was knocked off balance, but quickly recovered and went for a punch kick combo, but Areina wasn't going down that easily as she blocked the punch and jumped backward to avoid the kick. Terry was a little surprised, but he also noticed her balance was a little off.

"Okay, let's see how Areina does against me." Dick said as he walked up to his niece and Terry stepped out of the way.

"Usual rules with our surroundings?" Areina asked, knowing her uncle would want to use the shadows and fight in the stalactites.

The training began, and Areina had anticipated correctly, Dick immediately went toward the ceiling and she followed him. Terry couldn't really see anything, but Bruce was actually watching the computer screen. Turns out there were night vision cameras in the stalactites incase anything happened.

Terry had finally turned around and noticed the fight taking place on the screen, and Dick had just pulled an old Flying Grayson move, the quadruple flip to get away from Areina, but that didn't last long. The girl had imitated the move her uncle used, and this left the man shocked. Areina took this shock to her advantage and went for a punch kick combo. Dick couldn't block the attacks, and took them, he fell but before he hit the floor, was able to drop and roll so he wasn't severely injured.

"Good work, Areina." Bruce said. "There are some quirks, but you can work through them."

Areina came down from the ceiling and just smiled after she landed.

"How did you learn that flip." Dick questioned, curious as he had never shown her that.

"Watched a lot of training videos, and there were some vids up of your old routine with the circus." Areina remarked, proud of this accomplishment. With that said, they started into a rough training regimen.

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Two Months Later

Areina had done well in her retraining so Bruce had finally decided to allow the 18 year old join Terry on the job. Even though she was 18, Bruce still hated the idea of her risking her life, especially after everything that ever happened with his partners.

It was a pretty routine night, a couple of bank robberies, some joy riders, and a bit of gang fights. Red Bird was excellent, even taking out some gang members that were able to sneak up on Batman. The night was starting to wind down, but the duo soon found that their night was actually about to get started. There was a break in at Wayne Enterprises, so the two heroes headed toward the billionaire's company to find out what was going on.

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20 minutes later

Wayne Enterprises security was hard at work trying to stop an intruder that was trying to sabotage the latest military contract that Bruce had acquired. Said contract was to try and help Unman the frontlines in a way so that no soldier had to be within 1,000 yards of the actual shooting. There were several different vehicles being built, and the robotic tanks were nearing completion when suddenly they were oozing something black, and it seemed to be growing.

The tank suddenly exploded just as Batman and Red Bird arrived to investigate and they had to protect themselves with Red Bird putting up a fire shield. When the tank parts stopped flying, the black ooze started forming something as it grew tall.

"Oh great." Batman stated, realizing who they were up against.

"So, the rumors are true, looks like the little Bat has a sidekick." A voice said and the two knew it was coming from the ooze.

"Ah, I remember hearing about you, Inque. So, who's your boss this time, since it can't be Derek Powers?" Red Bird said.

"So, my reputation precedes me; then you'll also know I've come very close to killing Batman and the old man that helps him." Inque said as she completely appeared in her human form.

"Yea, but there's no way you can get close enough to me to get a kill shot in." Red Bird stated, knowing this would tick the villainess off.

As the heroine anticipated, Inque quickly changed forms and went right after her. Batman was about to throw a batarang to protect his friend/partner, but the Dark Knight wasn't fast enough and Red Bird was now in a tough battle.

"You're just another thorn in my side." Inque stated as she used her arm to trapped Red Bird's arms at her side and raised her off the ground.

"The way I understand your powers is that you don't like water, but there's another thing that you should have thought about before fighting me." Red Bird said as she started to heat her body up.

Inque felt her arm start to harden, and suddenly, the young heroine was able to break the arm into pieces and landed in a crouch with a smirk. Inque was surprised and it was showing in her body language and face.

"Oh didn't you know, not only can you not handle water, but heat can dehydrate you enough that you're weak. I studied the experiment that was done on you, and discovered this little hitch." Red Bird said, and with that, she stood up from her crouch and started forming a fireball.

Inque suddenly started backing away, and Batman saw where his partner was going with this. The Dark Knight then readied an exploding Batarang and threw it. The villainess easily dodged it, but herself did not know it was full of explosives. Once it made contact with the wall not far from her. The flames grew bigger and when Inque's attention turned back to the heroes trying to stop her, she noticed that Red Bird's hands were held out, and suddenly the flames engulfed her.

Screams were heard, and after a couple of minutes, the heroine made the fire subside, thus showing a defeated Inque. Batman walked a bit closer to her, and threw a new batagrang, this one had a freezing mechanism in it and Inque was frozen once again ready for transport to Gotham Cryogenics.

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Batcave, 45 minutes later

The two heroes got to the cave, and Red Bird landed before the Batmobile. She seemed happy, and then when Batman left the car, he saw something he thought he'd never see; Bruce smiling.

"Good work you two, I don't think that Robin, Cardinal and I could have read each other any better." Bruce said as he walked up to his granddaughter.

"When I heard Areina explain what happened with the heat she used on Inque, that was the first thing that came to my mind." Terry said as he removed his cowl.

"It took a couple of years before Dick and Reiena could read me like that. Even though they were well trained, I had to give them a push in the right direction." Bruce said as he started to turn around.

The only thing that stopped Bruce was the sound of Areina moving to take her mask off.

"Bruce, I know you never really wanted mom or Uncle Dick to join you in this life, and you sure as heck didn't want me to join it either. The only thing I can think of that would draw anyone to this life is the tragedy that you and Terry endured, then when mom and Dick joined, they wanted to stop people like Zucco from destroying families and keeping people safe." Areina said. "After what happened to Uncle Dick, I see why he was so angered when anything happened to someone he cared about."

"Well, we'll make Gotham as safe as we can, together." Terry said, a smiling showing on his face.

"You've got that right, Terry." Areina said, and with that, she headed over to the display cases and stood right infront of her mother's old costume. "I just hope I can live up to the legacy I've taken on."

"You will, Areina. It was inevitable that someone would have the ability and courage to take up the mantle that your mother left behind. I'm just glad it stayed in the family." Bruce said. Terry was still in shock from seeing Bruce actually smile, but now it seemed like the boy was going to actually have a heart attack.

Areina turned around and tears could be seen in her eyes, but all she did was head over to the locker area and change. Once she was fully back to being Areina, she headed upstairs for some rest.


End file.
